Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.arcliive.org/details/cavecliffdwellersOOscliwricli 


I  \^///' 


FALLS  OF  THE   BECORACHIC,  SIERR'A •' MAJORE  MOUNTAINS, 
,lp3.9  Y  ekt;  high.  .     •  •  .^ 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  GAVE 

-     AND  CLIFF  DWELLERS 


Lieut.  FREDERICK  SCHWATKA 

AUTHOR  OF   "THE    CHILDREN   OF  THE   COLD,"    '*  NIMROD   IN 
THE  NORTH  ;   OR,   HUNTING  AND  FISHING  ADVEN- 
TURES IN  THE  ARCTIC   REGIONS,"  ETC 


ILLUSTRATED 


:   : ..  •  *  ■ — «■ 

•  •  •  •*  I    • 


,    •    •  •« 

•    •      !  !' 

,•   •      •  • 


.  •  . •  •    •• 


NEW  YORK 

THE   CASSELL   PUBLISHING  CO. 
104  AND  106  Fourth  Avenue 


PRESERVATION 
COPY  ADDED 
ORIGINAL  TO  BE 

RETAINED 


f^'V-, 


APR  2  9  1993 


COPYKIGHT,  1893,  BY 

CASSELL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


I; 


THB  MBRSHON  COMPANY  PRESS, 
KAHWAY,  V.  J. 


I  i 


PREFACE. 


This  book  records  in  a  popular  way 
the  adventures,  researches,  and  other 
doings  of  two  expeditions  sent  irito 
Northern  Mexico  in  the  years  1889  and 
1890,  the  patron  of  the  first  being 
America  and  of  the  other  The  Herald, 
both  Chicago  publications.  The  story  is 
told,  however,  as  if  it  were  a  continuous 
undertaking,  to  make  it  more  succinct  and 
interesting;  the  public  probably  being 
uninterested  in  the  business  details,  which 
did  not  vary  from  the  usual  details  of 
that  nature. 

In  this  light  the  Mexican  expedition 

iii 

227729 


/ 
H  \ 


IV  PREFACE, 

easily  divides  itself  into  three  quite 
distinct  trips,  the  first  from  Deming, 
N.  M.,  southward  into  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  State  of  Chihuahua;  the 
second  through  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  of  Sonora  ;  and  the  third  and  most 
important  from  the  city  of  Chihuahua, 
in  the  State  of  the  same  name,  westward 
into  the  Sierra  Madre  range,  that  forms 
the  boundary  between  the  States  of 
Sonora  and  Chihuahua  on  the  northern 
part  of  the  travels,  and  Durango  and 
Sinaloa  on  the  southern. 

None  of  the  travels  can  be  strictly 
called  exploration,  although  often  alluded 
to  as  such  in  the  American  press,  yet 
there  were  a  few  interesting  and  impor- 
ant  facts  disclosed  by  the  researches  that 
almost  amounted  to  discoveries  in  the 
light  of  the  very  little  that  was  generally 


PREFACE.  V 

known  regarding  them.  This  was  espe- 
cially true  of  the  living  cliff  and  cave 
dwellers  found  abiding  in  the  Northern 
Mexican  Sierra  Madres,  the  knowledge 
of  whose  existence  was  seemingly  con- 
fined to  the  native  peons  and  laborers  but 
little  above  them  in  the  scale  of  intelli- 
gence, on  the  one  side,  and  an  exceed- 
ingly few  intelligent  Mexicans  and  for- 
eigners, mostly  engaged  in  mining,  on 
the  other,  who  either  did  not  care  to  give 
the  world  any  accounts  of  these  strange 
beings  or  who  had  interests  in  keeping 
everything  regarding  this  rich  country  as 
secret  as  possible.  Quite  a  long  resi- 
dence, ofif  and  on,  in  our  own  Southwest 
country  had  somewhat  familiarized  me 
with  the  dwellings  and  relics  of  the  cliff 
and  cave  dwellers  of  that  region,  and,  in 
common    with    the    general    opinion,    I 


VI  PREFACE, 

believed  they  belonged  to  a  race  wholly 
extinct,  and  with  no  direct  or  indirect 
living  representatives,  at  least  on  the 
North  American  continent.  Even  when 
the  first  living  cliff  dwellers  were  found 
in  Mexico  I  belieyed  they  were  isolated 
cases  of  depraved  savages  having  acquired 
ancient  dwellings,  as  the  very  lowest 
order  of  our  own  people  occasionally  seek 
similar  habitations  on  the  outskirts  of 
towns  and  cities.  But  I  was  certainly 
not  prepared  to  believe  that  this  singular 
and  savage  race  was  so  extensively  dis- 
tributed and  so  distinct  from  all  others  in 
its  characteristics ;  and  this  belief  was 
undoubtedly  universal,  as  shown  in  the 
comments  elicited  by  the  discovery. 
Whether  there  are  any  relations  exist- 
ing between  the  extinct  cliff  and  cave 
dwellers  of  our  own  country  and  those 


PREFACE.  ▼" 

now  existing  in  Mexico  is  a  technically 
scientific  question  that  I  was  not  prepared 
to  investigate,  both  because  the  discovery 
was  wholly  unexpected,  and  (still  more 
important)  because  destitute  of  a  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  the  subject  to  do  so. 
Had  I  been  able  to  overcome  both  ob- 
stacles, however,  I  could  have  done  no 
more  than  to  leave  the  subject  in  the 
shape  of  an  incomplete  theory  at  the  best, 
as  all  similar  ethnological  discussions 
have  been  left ;  and  I  doubt  if  this  would 
have  added  to  or  subtracted  from  the 
more  definite  purpose  of  being  the  first 
to  consider  them  in  any  light  whatsoever. 
Such  information  as  I  obtained  regarding 
this  most  curious  people  and  their  strange 
country  is  related  in  the  following  pages. 
Frederick  Schwatka. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTRR  PAGB 

I.  Northwestern  Chihuahua— Preparing  for 
THE  Expedition — From  Deming,  N.  M.,  to 
Casas  Grandes,  Chihuahua,  .        .        .      i 

II.  Northwestern  Chihuahua  (CVw/»««<r^>— Mex- 
ican Mormon  Colonies — From  La  Ascencion 
to  Corralitos — Some  Ruins  along  the 
Tapasita— A  ToLTEc  Babylon,  .        .    34 

III.  SoNORA — Along  THE  Sonora  Railway— Her- 

MOSILLO — GUAYMAS,  AND  ITS   BEAUTIFUL  HAR- 
BOR— Fishing  and  Hunting  about  Guaymas,     80 

IV.  Central    Chihuahua — From    the   City    of 

Chihuahua  Westward  to  the  Great  Mexi- 
can Mining  Belt,     '      .        .        .        .        .  i3r 

V.  Central  Chihuahua — In  the  Land  of  the 
Living  Cave  and  Cliff  Dwellers— The 
Tarahumari  Indians,  Civilized  and  Savage,  172 

VI.    Through  the  Sierra  Madres — On  Mule-back 

Westward  from  Carichic,    .        .        .        .206 

VII.  Southwestern  Chihuahua — Among  the  Cave 
AND  Cliff  Dwellers  in  the  Heart  of  the 
Sierra  Madre  Range,    .        .        .  .  227 

VIII.  In  Southwestern  Chihuahua — Down  the 
Urique  Barranca — From  Pine  to  Palm — 
Uriquk  and  its  Mines, 265 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTKR  FAGK 

IX.  Southwestern  Chihuahua— Description  of 
One  of  the  Richest  Silver  Regions  of  the 
World — Mineral  Wealth  of  the  Sierra 
Madres — The  Batopilas  District,       .        .311 

X.  Southwestern  Chihuahua — The  Return  by 
Another  Trail — The  CaRon  of  the 
Churches — Among  the  Cliff  Dwellers,    .  345 


IN  THE  LAND  OF 

CAVE  AND  CLIFF  DWELLERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

NORTHWESTERN     CHIHUAHUA  —  PREPARING 

FOR     THE     EXPEDITION FROM      DEMING, 

N.     M.,    TO   CASAS   GRANDES,    CHIHUAHUA. 

'T^HE  first  chapter  describing  an  expe- 
^  dition  is  liable  to  be  prosaic  to  the 
point  of  dullness.  It  is  full  of  promises 
that  are  expected  to  be  realized,  while  as 
yet  nothing  has  been  done.  Not  one- 
tenth  of  these  may  formulate,  and  yet  the 
expedition  may  be  a  success  in  unex- 
pected results  ;  for  in  no  undertaking  is 
there  so  much  uncertainty  as   in  travel 


2  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

through  little  known  countries.  Then, 
again,  the  writer  is  likely  to  consider  him- 
self called  upon  to  give  a  lengthy  descrip- 
tion of  the  party  in  the  preliminary  letter, 
.and,  as  I  have  often  seen,  even  descend 
to  an  enumeration  of  the  qualities  of  the 
cook  or  the  color  of  the  mules.  The 
next  night  the  cook  may  desert  and  the 
mules  may  run  away,  so  that  others  must 
be  procured,  and  therefore  they  are  of  no 
more  interest  to  the  reader  than  any  other 
of  the  millions  of  cooks  or  mules  that 
would  make  any  writer  wealthy  if  he 
could  find  a  publisher  who  would  print 
his  description  of  them.  I  intend  to 
break  away  from  that  stereotyped  for- 
mula in  this  first  chapter  and  briefly  state 
that  I  was  in  the  field  of  Northern  Mex- 
ico, hoping  to  obtain  new  and  interesting 
matter  beyond   the   everlasting   descrip- 


NORTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA,  3 

tions  that  are  now  pumped  up  for  the 
public  by  versatile  writers  along  the 
beaten  lines  of  tourist  travel,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  railroads,  and,  occasionally, 
the  diligence  lines.  I  had  a  good  outfit 
of  wagons,  horses,  mules,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  men  for  that  purpose.  Each  and 
every  member  of  the  expedition  will  be 
heard  from  when  anything  has  been  done 
by  them,  and  not  before.  When  the  mule 
Dulce  kicks  a  hectare  of  daylight  through 
the  cook  for  spilling  hot  grease  on  his 
heels  I  will  give  a  description  of  Dulce 
and  an  obituary  notice  of  the  cook ;  but 
until  then  they  will  remain  out  of  the 
account. 

We  crossed  the  boundary  south  of 
Deming  early  in  March,  1889,  ^^^ 
entered  Mexican  territory,  where  our 
travels  can  be  said  to  have  begun.     If  one 


4  CAVE  AND  CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

will  take  the  pains  to  look  at  a  map  of 
this  portion  of  Mexico  he  will  see  that  it 
projects  into  the  United  States  some  dis- 
tance beyond  the  average  northern  bound- 
ary, the  Rio  Grande  being  to  our.  east, 
and  an  **  offset,"  as  we  would  say  in  sur- 
veying, being  to  our  west,  this  '*  offset " 
running  north  and  south.  This  flat  pen- 
insula projecting  into  our  own  country 
can  be  better  understood  by  visiting  it 
and  comparing  it  with  the  surrounding 
land  of  the  United  States,  coupled  with  a 
history  of  the  country.  Roughly  speak- 
ing, the  Mexican-United  States  boundary, 
'  as  settled  by  the  Mexican  War,  followed 
:  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway 
'  as  now  constructed,  and  the  so-called 
^  Gadsden  purchase  from  Mexico  of  a  few 
years  later  fixed  the  boundary  as  we  now 
see  it,  giving  us  a  narrow,  sabulous  strip 


PREPARING  FOR    THE  EXPEDITION.  7 

of  Mexican  territory,  but  a  definite  bound- 
ary, easily  established  by  surveys. 

The  Mexicans  were  on  the  ground  and 
knew  just  what  they  were  doing  when 
they  arranged  for  selling  us  this  narrow 
strip ;  while,  as  usual,  we  did  everything 
from  Washington,  and  knew  just  about 
as  little  concerning  it  as  we  possibly 
could  and  be  sure  we  were  purchasing  a 
part  of  Mexico.  The  Mexicans  ran  this 
flat-topped  peninsula  far  to  the  north, 
inclosing  lakes,  rivers,  and  springs,  and 
waters  innumerable ;  while,  as  a  gener- 
ous compensation,  they  gave  us  more 
land  to  the  west,  but  a  land  where  a 
coyote  carries  three  days'  rations  of 
jerked,  jack  rabbit  whenever  he  makes  up 
his  mind  to  cross  it.  There  is  no  more 
comparison  between  the  offset  of  Mexico 
that  projects  here  into  the  United  States, 


8  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  the  offset  from  the  United  States 
that  projects  into  Mexico  west  of  here, 
than  there  is  in  comparing  the  fertile 
plains  of  Iowa  or  Illinois  with  Greenland 
or  the  Great  Sahara  Desert. 

Everyone  familiar  with  the  exceed- 
ingly rich  lands  of  the  Southwest,  when 
so  much  of  it  is  worthless  for  want  of 
water,  knows  how  valuable  that  liquid  is 
in  this  region,  especially  if  it  occurs  in 
quantities  sufficiently  large  for  the  pur- 
poses of  irrigation.  I  have  stood  on 
land  that  I  could  purchase  for  five 
cents  an  acre  or  less,  and  that  stretched 
out  behind  me  for  limitless  leagues,  and 
could  jump  on  other  land  whose  owner 
had  refused  a  number  of  hundreds  of 
dollars  an  acre,  although,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  see,  there  was  no  more  differ- 
ence   between    them    than  between  any 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GR ANDES.  9 

two  adjoining  acres  on  an  Illinois  farm. 
The  real  difference  was  one  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  surveyor's  level,  which 
showed  that  water  could  be  put  on  the 
valuable  tract  and  not  on  the  other. 
This  also  is  the  difference  between  the 
Mexican  "offset"  in  the  North,  lying 
between  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  me- 
ridianal  boundary  to  the  west,  and  the 
American  tract  that  juts  into  Mexico  just 
west  of  this  again.  They  both  share  the 
same  soil  as  you  gaze  at  them  from  the 
deck  of  your  ''  burro,"  and  you  can  even 
see  no  difference  in  them  on  closer  in- 
spection, after  your  mule  has  assisted 
you  to  alight ;  but  there  is  a  real  and 
tangible  value  difference  of  from  one 
hundred  to  two  hundred  dollars  a  year 
per  acre  between  the  grapes  and  other 
fruits  and  vegetables  you  can   raise   on 


lo  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

one,  with  water  trickling  round  their 
roots,  and  the  sagebrush  and  grease 
wood  of  the  other,  not  rating  at  ten  cents 
a  township. 

The  diplomats  of  our  country  at 
Washington  may  be  all  Talleyrands  in 
astuteness,  but  in  the  Gadsden  purchase 
they  got  left  so  far  behind  that  they  have 
never  yet  been  able  to  see  how  badly 
they  were  handled  in  the  bargain. 

As  our  people  travel  along  the  line  of 
the  Southern  Pacific  Railway,  through  its 
arid  wastes  of  sand  and  sunshine,  they 
can  little  realize  the  beautiful  country  of 
Northern  Chihuahua  and  Sonora  that 
lies  so  close  to  them  to  the  southward. 
And  yet  some  of  this  seemingly  arid  land 
in  Southern  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
is  destined  to  become  of  far  more  value 
than  its  present  appearance  would   indi- 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRAND ES.  1 1 

cate.  Anglo-Saxon  energy  is  converting 
little  patches  here  and  there  into  fertile 
spots,  and  these  are  constantly  increas- 
ing. A  great  portion  of  the  land  is  fine 
for  cattle  grazing,  and  these  little  oases 
make  centers  of  crystallizing  civilization, 
which  render  the  country  for  miles 
around  valuable  for  this  important  in- 
dustry. 

The  persons  who  believe  that  New 
Mexico  will  not  eventually  become  one 
of  the  finest  States  in  our  Union  belong 
to  the  class  of  those  who  put  Dakota, 
Nebraska,  and  Kansas  in  the  great 
American  desert  a  decade  or  two  ago. 

There  is  still  another  physical  feature 
of  at  least  Northern  Mexico  that  I  have 
never  seen  dwelt  upon,  even  in  the  nu- 
merous physical  geographies  that  are  now 
extant,   and  it  is  well   worth  explaining. 


12  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Books  innumerable  have  spoken  of  the 
tierra  caliente,  or  low,  hot  lands  near  the 
coast,  the  tierra  templada^  or  temperate 
lands  of  the  interior  plateaus,  and  the 
tierra  fria,  or  cold  lands  of  the  moun- 
tains and  higher  plateaus  ;  and  these  sub- 
divisions are  really  good  as  explaining 
Mexican  climate,  but  they  give  us  but 
little  idea  of  the  country's  surface  itself 
beyond  that  of  altitude,  and  even  less  re- 
garding its  resources  and  adaptability  to 
the  wants  of  man.  The  tierra  caliente, 
or  hot  lands  of  the  coast,  are  out  of  the 
question  as  habitations  for  white  men  ; 
but  the  tierra  templada  and  tierra  fria, 
as  everyone  familiar  with  climatology 
knows,  gives  us  the  finest  climate  in  the 
world,  as  do  all  elevated  plateaus  in  sub- 
tropical countries.  But  these  elevated 
plateaus,  or  different  portions  of  them, 


BE  MING    TO   CASAS  GRANDE  S.  1 3 

are  not  alike  in  resources,  and  their  varia- 
tions are  simply  due  to  the  variations  in 
the  water  supply. 

The  backbone  ridge  of  mountains  in 
Mexico  is  the  Sierra  Madre,  or  Mother 
Mountains,  for  from  them  all  other 
ridges  and  spurs  seem  to  emanate.  From 
their  crests,  as  with  all  other  mountains 
in  the  world,  spring  innumerable  rivulets 
and  creeks,  which,  uniting,  form  rivers. 
But  nearly  everywhere  else  these  streams 
increase  in  size  by  the  addition  of  the 
waters  of  other  tributaries  until  they  reach 
the  sea. 

Not  so  with  the  Mexican  rivers  of  this 
locality.  Shortly  after  leaving  the  moun- 
tains and  reaching  the  foothills,  they  re- 
ceive no  additions  from  other  sources, 
and  after  flowing  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred   miles    they  sink   into   the   ground. 


14  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

These  "  sinks "  are  usually  large  lakes, 
and  a  map  of  the  country  would  make  one 
believe  that  the  rivers  were  emptying 
into  them,  but  in  reality  they  only  disap- 
pear as  just  stated,  to  reappear  in  the  hot 
lands  as  the  heads  of  rivers.  Now  all  the 
country  between  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the 
''sinks,"  or  at  least  all  the  valley  country, 
can  be  readily  irrigated  by  this  peren- 
nial flow  of  water.  The  rivers  are  frinored 
with  trees,  and  the  grass  is  in  excellent 
condition,  while  beyond,  the  plains  are 
treeless^  the  soil  arid,  and  the  prospect 
cheerless  in  comparison.  To  particular- 
ize :  if  the  reader  looks  at  the  map  of 
Chihuahua  he  will  see  a  series  of  lakes 
(they  are  the  "  sinks  "  to  which  I  refer)  : 
Laguna  de  Guzman,  Laguna  (the  Spanish 
for  lake)  de  Santa  Maria,  Laguna  de 
Patos,   etc.,  extending  nearly  north  and 


BE  MING    TO   CASAS  GRANDE  S.  15 

south,  and  parallel  with  the  crest  of  the 
Sierra  Madres.  Between  the  lakes  and 
the  crest  is  a  beautiful  country,  capable  of 
sustaining  a  dense  population  ;  while  out- 
side of  it,  to  the  eastward,  so  much  cannot 
be  said  in  its  favor,  although  probably  the 
latter  is  a  good  grazing  district.  Now 
the  railway  runs  outside  or  eastward  of 
the  line  of  the  *' sinks,"  where  the  country 
is  flat  and  the  engineering  difficulties  are 
at  a  minimum ;  and  as  nearly  all  the 
descriptions  we  have  of  Mexico  are  based 
upon  observations  made  from  car  windows, 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  erroneous  an  opinion 
can  be  formed  of  this  northern  portion  of 
Mexico,  which  is  so  constantly,  though 
conscientiously,  misrepresented  by  scores 
of  writers. 

The  first  lake  we  came  to  in   Mexico 
was  Laguna  Las  Palomas  (the    Doves), 


l6  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

only  a  few  miles  beyond  the  boundary, 
and  to  secure  which  Mexico  was  smart 
enough  to  get  in  the  offset  to  which 
I  have  referred.  It  is,  I  think,  the  "  sink  " 
of  the  Mimbres  River,  which,  as  a  river, 
lies  wholly  in  the  southwestern  portion  of 
New  Mexico.  It  disappears,  however, 
before  it  crosses  the  boundary,  to  reappear 
as  sixty  or  seventy  huge  springs  in  Mex- 
ico (any  one  of  these  would  be  worth 
$20,000  to  $25,000  as  water  is  now  sold 
in  the  arid  districts),  which  drain  into 
a  beautiful  lake,  backed  by  a  high  sierra, 
the  Las  Palomas  Mountains,  altogether 
forming  a  very  picturesque  scene.  All 
the  country  around  is  quite  level,  and 
thousands  of  acres  can  here  be  irrigated 
with  this  enormous  water  supply  ;  while 
it  can  only  be  done  by  the  quarter  sec- 
tion in  the  Southwest  on  our  side  of  the 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRANDE S.  17 

line,    except,    probably,    in    a   few    rare 
instances. 

This  was  a  favorite  "  stamping  ground  " 
of  the  more  warlike  bands  of  Apache 
Indians  but  a  few  years  ago.  The  water 
and  grass  for  their  ponies  and  the  game 
for  themselves  made  it  their  veritable 
Garden  of  Eden  ;  settlement,  therefore, 
was  out  of  the  question  until  these  bold 
marauders  could  be  ejected  with  powder 
and  lead.  Not  two  leagues  to  the  north 
the  road  from  Deming,  N.  M.,  to  Las 
Palomas  passes  over  two  graves  of  as 
many  Apaches,  killed  a  few  years  ago  ; 
while  on  a  hill  hard  by  can  be  seen  three 
crescent-shaped  heaps  of  stones  where 
the  great  Apache  chief  Victorio,  with 
three  or  four  score  warriors,  made  a  stand 
against  the  combined  forces  of  the 
United  States  and  Mexico,  which  proved 


1 8  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

entirely  too  much  for  him  in  the  resulting 
combat.  More  worthless  or  meaner  In- 
dians were  never  driven  out  of  a  country 
than  were  the  Apaches  after  they  had 
found  this  region  uninhabitable,  or  at  least 
unbearable  for  their  murderous  methods 
of  life  ;  and  for  much  of  the  decisive 
action  that  led  to  this  desirable  end  we 
have  to  thank  the  Mexicans. 

The  way  the  Las  Palomas  Mountains 
have  of  rising  sheer  out  of  a  level  country 
is  quite  common  in  this  region,  plainly 
showing  that  the  mountains  once  rose 
from  a  great  sea  that  washed  their  bases, 
and  when  it  receded  with  the  uplifting  of 
this  region  it  left  the  level  plain  to  show 
where  its  flat  bottom  had  been  ages  before. 
A  fine  example  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
mountains  called  Tres  Hermanas  (the 
Three  Sisters),  very   near  the  boundary 


■>   »  i 

,5      5 


;:n\i 


TRES   UERMANAS. 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRANDES.  21 

line,  and  but  a  few  miles  from  the  wagon 
road  leading  from  Deming  south  into  old 
Mexico.  They  form  an  interesting  fea- 
ture in  the  landscape  as  viewed  from  the 
railway  on  approaching  Deming,  and  are 
the  subject  of  an  illustration  by  our  artist. 
Sometimes  a  single  peak  just  gets  its 
head  above  the  level  plain  by  a  few 
hundred  feet,  while  again,  great  ranges 
extend  for  miles,  their  tops  covered  with 
snow  in  the  winter  months.  However 
long  that  level  plain  may  be,  it  always 
extends  without  break  or  interruption  to 
the  next  range.  A  railway  would  have 
but  little  trouble,  so  far  as  grades  are 
concerned,  in  getting  through  this  coun- 
try. It  might  be  necessary  to  wind  a 
great  deal  to  avoid  hills  and  mountains, 
but  if  the  constructors  were  lavish  with 
rails  and  ties,  and  did   not  mind  mileage, 


22  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  grade  would  be  almost  as  simple  as 
building  on  a  floor  ;  in  fact  it  is  the  floor 
of  an  old  inland  ocean. 

A  profile  view  of  some  of  these  ranges 
and  isolated  peaks  gives  some  very 
grotesque  as  well  as  picturesque  views, 
and  imaginative  people  of  the  Southwest 
fancy  they  see  many  silhouette  designs 
in  the  crests  of  the  mountains.  Faces 
seem  to  predominate,  and  especially  is 
Montezuma's  face  quite  lavishly  dis- 
tributed over  this  region.  I  think  I  can 
recall  at  least  a  half  dozen  of  them  in  the 
Southwest  since  I  first  visited  there  in 
1867.  This  unfortunate  Aztec  monarch 
must  have  had  a  very  rocky  looking  face, 
or  his  descendants  must  have  thought 
exceeding  well  of  him  to  sculpture  him 
so  often,  even  in  fancy,  upon  the  moun- 
tain crests. 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GR ANDES.  23 

I  went  into  a  little  face-making  business 
of  my  own,  so  as  to  keep  along  in  the 
custom  of  the  country  while  I  was  there. 
The  most  southerly  peak  of  the  Florida 
range  had  quite  a  well-defined  face, 
upturned  to  the  sky,  that,  to  my  imagina- 
tion, looked  more  like  the  well-known 
face  of  Benjamin  Franklin  than  any  other 
of  nature's  sculpturing  so  often  portrayed 
in  mountains  when  assisted  by  the  fancy 
of  man. 

Before  leaving  Las  Palomas  our 
material  underwent  inspection  by  the 
customs  officials,  and  no  people  could 
have  been  more  polite  and  considerate 
than  were  these  officers  toward  us,  giving 
us  our  necessary  papers  without  putting 
us  to  the  inconvenience  of  unpacking  our 
many  boxes  and  bundles.  There  is  this 
peculiarity  about    Mexican  frontier  cus- 


24  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

toms :  after  passing  the  first  one  you  are 
by  no  means  through  with  them,  for  the 
next  two,  three,  or  even  four  towns  may 
also  have  customhouse  officers.  I  was 
in  a  Mexican  town.  La  Ascencion,  and 
had  a  wagon  unloaded  before  I  knew 
they  had  a  customhouse.  I  expected  to 
be  shot  at  reveille  the  next  morning ; 
but  instead  they  politely  passed  all  my 
personal  baggage  without  even  asking 
to  see  it,  simply  examining  the  papers 
received  at  the  first  customhouse. 

After  leaving  Las  Palomas  our  course 
lay  southward  across  a  high  mesa,  or 
table-laTid,  until  we  reached  the  Boca 
Grande  River.  The  scenery  along  the 
Boca  Grande  is  picturesque  and  some- 
what peculiar.  The  river  bottom  is  flat, 
very  wide,  and  rich  in  soil ;  but  on  the 
flanks  rise  the  Mexican  mountains  sheer 


I     ^  f>K    ! 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRAN  DBS.  27 

out  of  the  plains.  To  the  west  are  the 
Sierra  Madres,  covered  with  snow  on  the 
highest  peaks,  making  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  views  I  have  ever  seen  as  pre- 
sented from  different  points  along  the 
river's  course.  One  of  them,  Pacheco 
Peak,  in  the  Boca  Grande  range  (named 
after  the  Mexican  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior), is  shown  in  the  illustration.  Slight 
spurs  and  mesa  lands  extend  from  the 
sierras  in  the  valleys  and  often  reach  the 
river  bank,  thereby  forcing  the  road  over 
them,  but  affording  a  foundation  that  any 
macadamized  highway  in  our  own  coun- 
try might  emulate.  Some  of  these 
ridges  were  ornamented  with  groupings 
of  cactus  (of  the  oquetilla  variety),  if 
their  presence  can  be  called  an  orna- 
ment. Imagine  a  dozen  fishing  rods, 
from  ten    to  fifteen    feet    in  length,   all 


28  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

radiating-  from  a  central  point  like  a 
bouquet  of  bayonets,  and  each  rod  hold- 
ing hundreds    of  spikes  throughout    its 


OQUETILLA   CACTUS, 


length.  You  will  thus  have  a  faint  idea 
of  the  appearance  of  a  bunch  of  oquetilla 
cactus.  These  bunches  seem  to  prefer 
growing  along  the  rocky  crests  in  rows 
of  tolerable  regularity  that,  to  a  person 
at  a  distance,  suggest  the  work  of  human 
hands. 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRANDES.  29 

We  traveled  some  thirty  miles  along 
the  river  without  seeing  a  living  thing 
except  a  few  jack  rabbits  and  coyotes, 
when  suddenly  we  rounded  a  bend  of  the 
beautiful  Boca  Grande  and  came  upon  a 
stretch  of  valley  covered  with  zacaton 
grass,  and  which  in  a  few  years  will  be  a 
valuable  ranche.  Across  this  we  saw 
two  as  hard-looking  characters  approach- 
ing us  as  ever  cut  a  throat.  I  was  pre- 
paring to  hand  over  to  them  all  my 
Mexican  money  and  other  valuables 
when  they  politely  touched  their  hats 
and  simply  said,  "  Documentos."  Here, 
again,  in  the  far-off  woods  and  hills 
were  more  customhouse  officials.  These 
men  were  here  to  prevent  smugglers 
from  crossing  the  border  between  the 
towns  and  established  highways. 

We  lunched  that  day  on   Espia   Hill, 


so  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

used  formerly  as  a  customhouse  post  of 
observation,  but  the  Apache  chief  Geron- 
imo,  raiding  through  here,  collected  a 
poll  tax  of  one  scalp  apiece,  and  since 
then  the  post  has  been  abandoned.  A 
short  distance  further  the  river  changes 
from  the  Boca  Grande  to  the  Casas 
Grandes. 

The  Boca  Grande  and  the  Casas 
Grandes  are  the  same  river,  like  the 
Wind  River  and  the  Big  Horn  in  our 
own  country,  the  two  changing  names  at 
a  certain  point.  In  other  words,  they 
have  the  same  river  bed,  for  in  the  dry- 
est  seasons  the  Casas  Grandes  sinks 
and  reappears  further  down  as  the  Boca 
Grande,  the  two  streams  being  really 
identical  most  of  the  way,  however,  and 
both  of  them  emptying  into  the  great 
**  sink "    known    as    Laguna  Guzman.     I 


DEMING    TO   CASAS  GRANDE S.  3 1 

noticed  one  peculiarity  of  the  rocky  soil 
on  the  ridges  extending  down  from  the 
foothills  of  the  mountains  that  I  have 
never  seen  elsewhere,  and  might  not  have 
noticed  even  here  had  it  not  been  pointed 
out  to  me  by  one  of  my  guides.  Great 
areas  of  the  soil  were  covered  with  stones, 
mostly  flat  in  shape,  and  so  numerous 
that  but  little  vegetation  could  exist 
between  them.  A  decidedly  desolate 
aspect  was  thus  presented ;  indeed  no 
one  would  believe  that  anything  except 
the  oquetilla  cactus  could  possibly  grow 
here.  One  of  my  Mexican  men,  how- 
ever, assured  me  that  the  stones  were 
only  on  the  surface,  and  that  by  removing 
them  the  richest  of  red  soil  could  be 
found  underneath,  not  affording  a  single 
stone  in  a  cubic  yard  of  earth.  The  soil 
had  not  been  washed  away  when  the  rains 


32  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

beat  down  upon  it,  as  this  ''  top-dressing  " 
of  flat  rock  had  shielded  it  from  such 
action,  protecting  it,  let  us  hope,  for  the 
future  use  of  man.  They  told  me  this 
peculiar  kind  was  the  richest  and  most 
easily  cultivated  soil  in  Mexico,  but  it 
looked,  with  its  covering  of  rocks,  poor 
enough  to  put  in  some  terrestrial  alms- 
house along  with  the  Sahara  Desert. 

This  whole  Southwest,  or  rather  North- 
west from  a  Mexican  standpoint,  is  a 
country  of  deceptive  appearances.  Hun- 
dreds of  my  readers  have  probably 
traveled  over  the  Santa  Fe  Railway  as  it 
courses  through  the  Rio  Grande  valley, 
and,  recalling  the  grassy,  pleasant-looking 
country  in  the  East,  have  wondered  how 
this  cheerless  area  of  sand  and  sagebrush 
could  ever  be  utilized.  Yet  in  this  valley 
is  a  farm  of  twenty-two  acres  for  which 


BE  MING    TO    CASAS   GRANDE  S.  33 

sixty  thousand  dollars  has  been  flatly 
refused,  although  not  one  cent  of  its 
value  is  due  to  its  proximity  to  any 
important  point  (as  the  fact  is  with  the 
valuable  little  farms  around  our  Eastern 
cities),  but  solely  to  what  it  will  produce. 
Verily  the  desolation  of  the  land  is 
deceptive,  and,  like  beauty,  is  but  skin 
deep. 


CHAPTER    II. 

NORTHWESTERN    CHIHUAHUA     (cONTINUEd) 

— MEXICAN      MORMON     COLONIES FROM 

LA      ASCENSION      TO     CORRALITOS SOME 

RUINS    ALONG    THE    TAPASITA A    TOLTEC 

BABYLON. 

TT  is  sixty  to  sixty-five  miles  from  Las 
•■■  Palomas  to  La  Ascension,  and  not  a 
settlement  or  a  sign  of  life  except  jack 
rabbits,  coyotes,  and  customhouse  offi- 
cers is  to  be  seen  throughout  the  whole 
length  of  this  unusually  rich  country, 
so  effectually  did  the  Apaches  enforce 
their  restrictive  tariff  but  a  few  years 
ago.  At  rare  intervals  great  haciendas 
are  found  in  these  rich  valleys,  the  main 

34 


NORTHWESTERN   CHIHUAHUA.  35 

industry  of  which  is  cattle  raising.  We 
passed  a  herd  of  about  a  thousand  head 
just  before  reaching  La  Ascension,  all  in 
magnificent  condition,  and  attended  by 
some  eight  or  ten  vaqueros,  who  were 
driving  them  to  market.  With  the  usual 
Mexican  politeness  they  took  particular 
pains  to  give  us  the  road  ;  and  to  do  so 
drove  the  whole  herd  over  a  high  hill, 
around  the  base  of  which  the  road  ran. 

Just  before  reaching  La  Ascension  we 
came  to  the  Mormon  colony  of  Diaz 
(named  by  them  in  honor  of  the  pres- 
ent President  of  the  Mexican  Republic), 
numbering  about  fifty  families.  A  dis- 
cussion of  their  religious  tenets  is  clearly 
and  fortunately  out  of  my  province,  not 
only  from  its  heavy,  dreary  character,  but 
for  the  reason  that  everything  wise  and 
otherwise  about  Mormonism  has  already 


36  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

been  put  before  those  who  care  to  read 
it.  But  entirely  aside  from  the  subject 
of  polygamy,  which  has  so  completely 
obscured  every  other  point  about  these 
people,  they  have  one  characteristic 
which  is  seldom  heard  of  in  connection 
with  them  and  their  wanderings  in  the 
Western  wilderness.  I  refer  to  their 
building  up  of  new  countries.  They 
have  no  peer  in  pioneering  among  the 
Caucasian  races.  They  are  so  far  ahead 
of  the  Gentiles  in  organized  and  discrimi- 
nating, businesslike  colonization,  that  the 
latter  are  not  close  enough  to  them  to  per- 
mit a  comparison  that  would  show  their 
inferiority.  Of  course  they  (the  Mor- 
mons) see  in  their  belief  an  ample  expla- 
nation for  this  excellence  ;  it  is  far  more 
probable,  however,  as  I  look  at  it  from 
my  Gentile  point  of  view,  that  it  is  due 


MEXICAN  MORMON  COLONIES.  37 

to  the  peculiar  organization  of  their 
Church,  which  so  fits  them  for  the  work  of 
making  the  wilderness  blossom  as  the  rose. 
No  other  Christian  Church  exercises  so 
much  authority  over  the  temporal  affairs 
of  its  members  as  the  Mormon  Church. 
However  debatable  this  exercise  of  au- 
thority may  be  in  civilized  communities, 
surrounded  by  people  of  the  same  kind, 
there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  its 
favorable  effect  upon  pioneer  associa- 
tions, encompassed  by  enemies  in  man 
and  nature.  This  view  of  the  subject 
must  be  admitted  by  everyone  who  has 
grown  up  on  the  Gentile  frontier  and 
seen  the  innumerable  bickerings  between 
adjacent  towns,  the  internal  dissensions 
in  the  towns  themselves,  the  rivalry 
for  "booms,"  the  shotgun  contests  for 
county  seats,  the  thousands  of  exaggera- 


38  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

tions  about  their  own  interests,  and  the 
hundreds  of  depreciations  about  those  of 
others  adjoining.  As  in  its  spiritual,  so 
in  its  temporal  affairs,  the  authority  of 
the  Mormon  Church  is  remarkable  for  its 
effective  power  of  centralization.  It  judi- 
cially settles  all  questions  for  the  general, 
not  the  individual  good  ;  and  upon  this 
principle  it  determines,  by  the  character 
of  the  soil,  and  by  the  natural  routes  of 
travel,  where  colonies  shall  locate,  as 
well  as  what  are  the  probable  opportuni- 
ties for  propagation  of  the  faith.  It  is 
not  at  all  surprising  to  one  who  has 
observed  these  facts  that  an  organized 
faith  of  almost  any  character  should  have 
flourished,  though  surrounded  by  so 
much  disorganization. 

As  a  rule,  at    least  from    two  to  four 
years  of  quiet  are  needed  after  an  Indian 


MEXICAN  MORMON  COLONIES.  39 

war  to  restore  such  confidence  among 
the  whites  that  they  can  settle  the  dis- 
turbed district  in  a  bona-fide  way.  I 
should,  however,  except  the  Mormons 
from  this  class,  but  to  do  so  without 
an  explanation  would  appear  somewhat 
unreasonable.  Their  long  and  almost 
constant  frontier  experience  has  taught 
them  how  to  weigh  Indian  matters  cor- 
rectly, as  well  as  others  pertaining  to  the 
ragged  edge  of  civilization.  Although 
the  Apaches  had  been  subdued  a  dozen 
times  by  the  Mexican  and  American 
governments  alternately,  they  knew 
when  the  subduing  meant  subjugation, 
and  before  Geronimo  and  his  cabinet 
were  halfway  to  the  orange  groves  of 
Florida,  Mormon  wagon  poles  were 
pointing  to  the  rich  valleys  of  North- 
western Chihuahua. 


40  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

They  number  here  a  few  hundred 
families,  a  mere  fraction  in  view  of  all 
the  available  land  of  the  magnificent  val- 
leys of  the  Casas  Grandes,  Boca  Grande, 
Santa  Maria,  and  others  ;  and  they  never 
will  predominate  politically  or  in  num- 
bers over  the  other  inhabitants  if  we 
include  the  Mexican  population,  which 
is  almost  universally  Catholic.  In  fact, 
those  already  established  seem  content 
merely  to  settle  down  and  be  let  alone  ; 
this  end  they  attain  by  purchase  of  tracts 
of  land  over  which  they  can  throw  their 
authority  and  be  a  little  community  unto 
themselves,  neither  disturbing  nor  wish- 
ing to  be  disturbed  by  others. 

Their  success  has  already  invited  the 
more  avaricious,  but  less  coldly  calcula- 
ting Gentile  ;  and  while  it  is  stating  it  a 
little   strong   to   say  there  is  a  "  boom," 


MEXICAN  MORMON  COLONIES.  41 

or  even  indications  of  one,  within  the 
thirty  to  sixty  miles  between  villages, 
my  conscience  is  not  disturbed  in  saying 
that  I  can  at  least  agree  with  the  great 
American  poet  that, 

We  hear  the  first  low  wash  of  waves 
Where  soon  shall  roll  a  human  sea. 

Already  a  railway  was  talked  of,  and  the 
usual  undue  excitement  was  manifested. 
Every  stranger  was  supposed  to  have 
something  to  do  with  it.  Even  my  own 
little  expedition  was  thought  to  be  a  sort 
of  preliminary  reconnoissance.  I  have 
never  constructed  a  railway  in  my  life,  but 
I  have  been  along  the  advancing  lines  of 
a  number  of  new  ones,  and  have  seen 
them  grow  from  two  iron  rails  in  a  wilder- 
ness to  a  great  country.  I  do  not  recall 
any   that   had    much    brighter   prospects 


42  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ahead  than  the  proposed  one  along  the 
eastern  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Madres. 
That  it  must  be  built  some  day  the 
resources  of  the  country  clearly  demand, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  be  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible. 

At  La  Ascension  we  were  greatly  in- 
debted to  Mr.  Francis,  a  young  English 
gentleman,  who  literally  placed  his  house 
at  our  disposal,  giving  up  his  own  room 
for  our  comfort.  As  there  were  no  inns 
in  La  Ascension  except  those  of  the 
lowest  order,  this  generous  hospitality  of 
the  only  Englishman  in  the  town  was 
warmly  appreciated  by  us.  One  of  our 
wagons  having  met  with  a  slight  accident, 
we  remained  over  Sunday  to  await  repairs. 
As  soon  as  this  was  known  to  the  inhabi- 
tants invitations  began  to  pour  in  to  attend 
cockfights,  and  one  of  especial  magnitude 


LA    ASCENSION   TO   CORRALITOS.  43 

was  organized  in  our  honor.  The  finest 
cocks  in  the  place  were  to  take  part,  and 
the  presidente  or  mayor  of  the  town  would 
preside.  Then,  to  add  distinction  to  the 
already  exciting  programme,  ^baileox  ball 
was  hastily  gotten  up  for  the  evening. 
Hospitality  could  go  no  farther  in  this 
out-of-the-way  town,  for  the  people  were 
really  not  rich  enough  to  support  a  bull- 
fight. Early  in  the  morning,  before  the 
population  had  recovered  from  the  dissipa- 
tions of  the  previous  night,  we  bade  our 
hospitable  host  *'good-by,"  and,  wrapped 
in  our  heaviest  coats  against  the  chill 
morning  air,  we  started  southward  toward 
Corralitos,  about  thirty-five  or  forty  miles 
away.  After  crossing  wide  mesas  and 
threading  our  way  around  the  bases  of 
many  picturesque  groups  of  mountains, 
we  came  to  the  Casas  Grandes  River  and 


44  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

valley,  and  along  this  stream,  literally  alive 
with  ducks,  we  traveled  for  some  hours. 
It  was  a  great  temptation  to  get  out  the 
guns  and  shoot  at  the  ducks  that  were 
calmly  sailing  by  us  on  the  broad  and 
rapid  stream  ;  but  as  we  had  neither  dog 
nor  boat  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  secure  them  had  we  done  so.  The 
consoling  thought  was  ours  that  the 
hacienda  was  not  far  distant,  and  there 
we  would  likely  find  everything  necessary 
to  assist  us  in  this  or  any  other  sport. 

Approaching  the  hacienda  we  passed 
immense  droves  of  horses  and  cattle  graz- 
ing on  the  rich  bottom  lands.  Corralitos 
has  a  very  pretty,  an  almost  poetical  name, 
but  it  loses  much  of  its  romantic  charac- 
ter when  it  is  known  that  it  is  named  for 
some  old,  dilapidated  sheep  pens  that 
once  existed  here,  corralitos  being  little 


LA  ASCENSION   TO   CORRALITOS.  45 

pens  or  little  corrals.  It  is  a  hacienda, 
some  eighty  or  ninety  years  old,  with  an 
extremely  interesting  history,  that  would 
make  a  book  more  thrilling  than  any  fic- 
tion. The  main  building  is  a  great  square 
inclosure  with  very  thick  walls,  having 
many  loopholes  for  guns,  and  high  turrets 
or  towers  at  the  corners.  To  enter  the 
building  are  massive  gates,  while  inside 
are  a  number  of  courts  with  other  gates 
leading  to  other  inclosures,  and  making 
the  interior  building  appear  like  a  small 
town.  Here  during  the  fierce  Apache 
raids  the  whole  population  was  gathered 
for  protection,  and  the  crack  of  Apache 
rifles  has  often  been  heard  around  the 
thick  walls.  Dons  of  Spanish  blood  have 
extracted  fortunes  from  the  mountain 
sides  near  by  in  mines  that  have  been 
worked  since  shortly  after  the  Conquest. 


46  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

It  is  a  hacienda  of  about  a  million  acres 
in  extent,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in 
the  whole  State  of  Chihuahua,  the  Casas 
Grandes  River  running  for  some  thirty 
miles  through  the  estate.  The  true 
hacienda,  of  which  we  hear  so  much  in 
Mexican  narration,  is  really  a  definite  area 
of  twenty-two  thousand  acres,  but  the 
name  is  now  used  so  as  to  mean  almost 
any  estate,  whether  large  or  small,  under 
one  management.  With  the  advance  of 
railways  haciendas  are  slowly  disappear- 
ing, and  will  soon  exist  only  in  poetry 
or  fiction. 

The  views  from  the  hacienda  are  beau- 
tiful in  the  extreme.  To  the  east  lies 
a  range  of  mountains  filled  with  seams  of 
silver,  the  Corralitos  Company  working 
some  thirty  to  forty  mines ;  while  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred   ''  pros- 


LA    ASCENSION   TO  CORRALITOS.  47 

pects  "  await  development.  These  mines 
have  been  known  and  worked  since  the 
Spaniards  entered  this  part  of  Mexico. 
To  the  west  of  the  hacienda  flows  the 
Casas  Grandes  River,  flanked  on  either 
side  by  enormous  old  cottonwood  trees ; 
while  for  a  background  rise  the  immense 
peaks  of  the  Sierra  Madres,  covered  with 
snow,  and  breaking  into  all  sorts  of  fantas- 
tic shapes  as  they  extend  down  toward 
the  river. 

The  Corralitos  Company  is  owned 
mainly  in  the  United  States,  New  York 
capitalists  being  the  principal  stock- 
holders. 

While  at  Diaz  City  I  had  learned  from 
Dr.  W.  Derby  Johnson,  the  ecclesiastical 
head  of  the  Mormon  colonies  in  Upper 
Chihuahua,  that  at  the  lower  colony  on 
the   Piedras  Verdes  River  a  number  of 


48  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ancient  Aztec  ruins  were  to  be  seen,  very 
few  of  which  had  ever  been  heard  of 
before.  I  determined  to  visit  them  as 
soon  as  possible,  for  the  reason  that  Mr. 
Macdonald,  the  business  manager  of  the 
lower  colony,  was  expecting  to  leave 
shortly  for  Salt  Lake  City.  This  gentle- 
man was  unusually  well  acquainted  with 
the  country  of  the  Pledras  Verdes,  having 
spent  months  In  surveying  it,  and  being 
more  familiar  with  its  ancient  ruins  than 
any  other  man  living.  Fortunately  Dr. 
Johnson  was  going  through  to  see  him — 
a  two  days'  trip — so  to  a  certain  extent 
we  joined  our  forces  for  that  time.  Ex- 
pecting to  return  to  Corralltos,  we  left 
early  one  morning  for  a  drive  of  about 
sixty  miles  to  the  lower  Mormon  colony 
of  Juarez,  named  after  Mexico's  greatest 
President  since  the  war  of  independence. 


LA  ASCENSION  TO   CORRALITOS.  49 

Twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  to  the 
south  of  CorraHtos  we  came  to  the  town 
of  Casas  Grandes,  said  to  consist  of 
three  thousand  inhabitants,  but  we  did 
not  see  three  people  as  we  drove  through 
its  seemingly  deserted  streets.  It  is  the 
most  important  town  in  the  valley,  both 
historically  and  in  point  of  numbers.  It 
takes  its  name,  meaning  "big  houses," 
from  the  ancient  ruins  situated  in  its 
suburbs,  and  comprising  the  largest 
found  in  this  part  of  Mexico  when  it  was 
first  visited  by  Europeans  many  years 
ago.  The  name  of  the  town  has  also 
been  applied  to  the  river  which  flows 
just  in  front  of  it,  and  which  is  formed 
by  the  junction  of  two  others,  the  San 
Miguel  and  Piedras  Verdes.  The  San 
Miguel  is  the  straight  line  prolongation 
of  the  Casas  Grandes,  and  is   apparently 


so  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  true  stream  ;  but  the  Piedras  Verdes 
is  the  more  important,  as  its  waters  are 
perennially  replenished  by  branches 
which  rise  in  the  never-failing  springs 
of  the  sierras  to  the  west.  At  Casas 
Grandes  we  left  the  river  and  struck  out 
inland  for  the  little  Mormon  colony  on 
the  Piedras  Verdes  River,  a  distance  of 
some  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles.  Like 
all  other  distances  in  this  part  of  Mex- 
ico, there  is  not  a  sign  of  civilization 
between,  not  even  a  camping  place,  al- 
though the  country  traversed  is  a  fine 
one  for  cattle  grazing,  with  numerous 
beautiful  valleys  where  farms  could  be 
made  remunerative,  and  where  three  or 
four  dozen  houses  ought  to  be  seen  if 
a  tenth  part  of  the  country's  resources 
were  developed.  As  we  crossed  stretch 
after  stretch  of  beautiful  prairie,  watered 


LA   ASCENSION   TO   CORRALITOS.  5 1 

by  many  little  mountain  streams,  it 
seemed  as  though  only  a  short  time  must 
pass  before  this  fertile  country  would  be 
dotted  with  hundreds  of  homes  and 
thousands  of  cattle  on  its  grassy  hills. 
The  meaning  of  Piedras  Verdes  is  green 
rocks,  but  the  rock  projections  in  cliff, 
hill,  or  stream,  are  of  all  imaginable 
shades,  not  only  of  green,  but  of  red, 
yellow,  brown,  rose,  and  even  blue.  The 
effect  is  inconceivably  beautiful  against 
the  wonderful  blue  sky  of  this  part 
of  Mexico.  Just  before  reaching  the 
Mormon  colony  you  come  to  a  high 
ridge  from  which  can  be  seen  the  little 
town  nestling  along  the  banks  of  the  pic- 
turesque Piedras  Verdes  River.  It  is  a 
scene  seldom  surpassed  in  beauty.  Far 
to  the  west  are  the  grand  Sierra  Madres, 
crested    with    snow,    while    nearer,    the 


52  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

great  shaggy  hills,  covered  with  timber, 
and  the  many  bright-colored  rocks  be- 
tween, make  up  a  picture  that  neither 
poet  nor  painter  could  depict. 

Juarez  is  a  bright-looking  little  town  of 
some  fifty  families,  who  raise  all  their  own 
fruits  and  vegetables,  and  have  a  goodly 
supply  for  the  less  thrifty  people  of  the 
surrounding  country.  Our  party  was 
kindly  cared  for  by  two  or  three  of  the 
Mormon  families,  as  there  were  no  other 
places  of  shelter  beside  their  homes. 
The  next  day  we  started  to  visit  the 
ancient  ruins  on  the  Tapasita  River  (a 
branch  of  the  Piedras  Verdes),  which 
flows  through  as  beautiful  a  little  valley 
as. I  ever  saw.  Mr.  Macdonald,  the  sur- 
veyor of  this  tract,  kindly  consented  to 
accompany  us,  although  he  was  overbur- 
dened with  business  incidental  to  starting 


SOME  RUINS  ALONG    THE    TAP  A  SIT  A.        53 

the  next  day  for  Salt  Lake  City.  In  the 
Tapasita  valley  I  expected  to  find  only  a 
single  well-defined  group  of  ruins.  Imag- 
ine my  surprise,  then,  upon  discovering 
that  the  entire  country,  especially  in  its 
valleys,  was  covered  with  such  evidences. 
A  high  hill,  called  the  Picacho  de  Torreon, 
had  been  occupied  on  its  southern  face  by 
cliff  dwellers  ;  at  our  feet  was  a  mass  of 
rubbish  that  indicated  a  ruin  of  the  latter 
people.  Twelve  miles  up  the  Tapasita 
was  still  another  extensive  ruin  of  stone, 
while  the  intervening  space  was  constantly 
marked  by  similar  remains.  In  fact,  as 
before  stated,  the  whole  valley  was  one 
vast  continuation  of  ruins.  We  were 
surely  on  ground  once  occupied  by 
an  ancient  and  dense  population — where 
the  fertile  resources  of  the  country  will 
again  sustain  another  and  a  far  more  civ- 


54  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ilized  race.  Even  Juarez  City  found  a 
great  many  such  mounds  on  its  site,  and 
digging  into  some  of  them  has  revealed 
much  of  interest.  Just  before  our  arrival 
a  pot  or  jar  had  been  taken   from  one  of 


ANCIENT   JAR    UNEARTHED    AT   JUAREZ    CITY. 

the  mounds,  and  was  bought  by  me  of  the 
young  boy  who  unearthed  it.  It  is  like 
many  other  jars  from  Casas  Grandes,  as 
well  as  from  better  known  ruins,  and  that 
have  already  figured  in  works  on  Mexico. 
It  differs,  however,  from  most  of  them  in 
having  upon   it  the   figure  of  a  bird,   as 


SOME  RUINS  ALONG    THE    TAPASITA.        55 

representations  of  animals  of  any  sort  are 
very  unusual  upon  their  decorated  sur- 
faces. The  bird  seems  more  nearly  to 
resemble  the  chaparral  cock  or  California 
road  runner  than  any  other  bird  in  this 
part  of  the  world.  Geometrical  designs 
are  frequent,  and  of  these  the  zigzag, 
stairlike  forms  are  the  most  common. 
Many  other  things  had  been  found  in  this 
mound,  including  a  number  of  utensils  of 
pottery,  together  with  the  human  bones 
of  their  makers.  No  doubt  similar  relics, 
with  some  variations,  could  be  found  in 
all  these  mounds.  We  saw,  I  think,  many 
hundreds  of  these  ruins  in  the  Piedras 
Verdes  region,  most  of  them  merely 
mounds  suggestive  of  what  they  once 
were.  Ancient  ditches  could  also  be 
plainly  made  out  along  the  hillsides, 
showing  that  the  former  inhabitants  cul- 


56  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

tivated  the  rich  soil  of  the  valleys.  They 
well  understood  the  value  of  water,  too, 
for  around  the  bases  of  the  small,  stream- 
less  valleys  leading  into  the  watered  ones 
were  damlike  terraces,  evidently  designed 
to  catch  and  retain  the  water  after  show- 
ers until  it  was  needed  in  the  irrigating 
ditches.  On  the  top  of  high  hills  adja- 
cent were  fortified  places,  apparently 
where  they  must  have  fled  in  times  of 
danger  from  other  tribes.  They  were  a 
wonderful  and  interesting  people,  one 
that  would  repay  careful  study,  even  from 
the  little  evidence  of  their  existence  that 
is  left. 

On  the  Tapasita  we  came  upon  the 
ruins  of  what  must  have  been  a  large 
city  of  these  people — the  largest  we  saw 
in  that  part  of  the  country.  The  only 
life  we   saw  there  was   a  mountain  lion 


SOME  RUINS  ALONG    THE    TAP  A  SIT  A.        57 

or  panther,  that  came  trotting  along  the 
valley  until  it  saw  us,  when  it  turned 
back  into  the  mountains.  Truly  the 
wild  beasts  were  wandering  over  the 
Toltec    Babylon. 

It  is  impossible  for  an  artist  to  convey 
in  plain  black  and  white  any  idea  of  the 
beauty  of  this  country  ;  it  is  a  land 
requiring  the  painter  to  exhibit  its  beau- 
ties. 

One  of  the  interesting  peculiarities 
of  the  numerous  ruins  found  throughout 
this  portion  of  the  country,  and  that  indi- 
cates a  once  dense  population  living  off 
the  soil,  is  the  way  in  which  most  of 
them  seem  to  have  met  their  fate. 
When  a  ruined  house  is  dug  into  all  the 
skeletons  of  its  occupants  are  found  in 
what  may  be  termed  the  combined 
kitchen    and    eating   room, — these    two 


58  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

rooms  being  in  one,— and  always  near  a 
fire-place.  The  postures  of  these  skele- 
tons are  as  various  as  it  is  possible  for 
the  human  body  to  assume.  They  are 
found  kneeling,  stretched  out,  sometimes 
with  their  locked  hands  over  their  heads, 
on  their  sides,  and,  again,  with  their  chil- 
dren in  their  arms,  hardly  any  two  being 
alike  in  the  same  house  or  series  of 
houses,  where  they  were  united  into  a 
pueblo.  Now  in  the  whole  study  of  sep- 
ulture it  has  been  almost  universally 
found  that  even  among  the  lowest  sav- 
ages as  well  as  among  the  most  civilized 
peoples,  whatever  form  of  burial  is 
adopted,  no  matter  how  absurd  from  our 
point  of  view,  it  is  uniform  in  the  main 
points,  allowing,  of  course,  slight  devia- 
tions for  caste  or  rank.  The  positions 
of  the  skeletons  in  their  own  houses  do 


SOME  RUINS  ALONG    THE    TAP  A  SI  TA.        59 

not  accord  with  this  general  fact,  and 
have  led-  some  to  believe  that  this  race 
was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  or  other 
violent  action  of  nature. 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Davis, 
superintendent  of  the  Corralitos  Com- 
pany, who  has  made  a  study  of  these 
ancient  ruins  from  having  them  almost 
forced  upon  his  attention.  That  gentle- 
man not  only  believes  they  were  cut  off 
by  a  violent  earthquake,  as  I  have  sug- 
gested, but  that  this  great  cataclysm 
caught  them  at  their  evening  meal.  He 
infers  the  latter  fact  from  a  consideration 
of  the  customs  of  the  present  almost  pure- 
blooded  Indians  here,  who  must  have 
descended  from  the  older  race,  although, 
singularly  enough,  knowing  nothing  of 
their  ancient  progenitors.  The  evening 
meal   is  the  only  occasion  when   they  are 


6o  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

all  gathered  together  at  home.  The 
earthquake  must  have  been  a  very  severe 
one,  and  have  brought  down  the  large 
buildings  upon  the  occupants  before  they 
could  escape.  This  region  is  not  espe- 
cially liable  to  such  disasters.  That  it 
has  them,  however,  occasionally,  and 
severe  ones  too,  is  shown  by  the  Bavispe 
earthquake  of  a  few  years  ago,  when  that 
town  was  destroyed,  some  forty  people 
killed,  and  the  whole  country  shaken  up. 
Mr.  Davis  goes  on  with  his  theory  that 
the  survivors  were  thus  exposed  to  the 
mercy  of  their  enemies  (that  they  had 
enemies  before  is  shown  by  their  fortifi- 
cations adjoining  almost  every  village), 
and  became  cliff  dwellers  as  a  last  resource 
to  escape  the  fury  of  their  old  assailants. 
These,  probably,  were  savages  by  com- 
parison ;   and,  living  in  savage  homes,  as 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  6i 

skin  tents  or  wzkeyups,  and  other  light 
abodes,  they  suffered  little  from  the  great 
commotion  referred  to.  When  the  par- 
tially vanquished  race  became  strong 
enough  they  wandered  southward  as  the 
first,  or  among  the  first,  Toltec  excursions 
in  that  direction. 

While  at  Corralitos  Mr.  Davis  told 
me  of  some  ruins  situated  about  half- 
way between  his  hacienda  and  Casas 
Grandes,  near  Barranca.  I  visited  them 
next  day,  and  found  a  very  noticeable 
and  well-defined  road  leading  straight  up 
a  hill  to  a  slight  bench  overtopped  by  a 
higher  hill  at  the  end  of  the  bench. 
Here  was  an  ancient  ruin,  built  of  stone, 
and  looking  very  much  like  a  position  of 
defense.  It  may  have  been  a  sacrificial 
place,  for  otherwise  I  cannot  account  for 
the   careful     construction     of    the   road. 


62  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

For  defensive  purposes  it  would  not 
have  been  needed,  especially  one  so  well 
made ;  but  observation  has  taught  me 
that,  when  no  other  reasonable  explana- 
tion can  be  found  for  doing  a  thing, 
superstitious  or  religious  motives  can  be 
consistently  introduced  to  account  for  it. 
This  hill  was  really  an  outlying  one  from 
a  larger  near  by  and  overlooking  it. 
After  climbing  up  the  latter  about  half- 
way a  series  of  stone  buildings,  not  dis- 
cernible from  the  bottom,  were  clearly 
made  out.  They  encircled  the  hill,  and 
about  halfway  between  these  and  the 
top  of  the  hill  was  another  row  of  encir- 
cling buildings,  faintly  recognized  by 
their  ruins,  although  the  masonry  was  of 
the  best  character.  On  the  top  of  the 
hill  was  a  fortification,  with  a  well  prob- 
ably about  twenty  feet  from  the  summit, 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  63 

overtopped  and  almost  hidden  by  a  hang- 
ing mesquite  bush.  At  the  base  of  both 
hills  was  a  series  of  mounds  extending  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  I  almost 
fear  to  place  an  estimate  on  their  num- 
ber, nor  can  1  positively  say  they  repre- 
sented buildings  at  all.  In  all  or  nearly 
all  other  mounds  there  is  some  sign  of 
the  house  walls  protruding  through  the 
debris;  here  I  found  none,  but  they 
closely  resemble  the  other  mounds  ex- 
cept in  this  respect.  Everything  goes  to 
show  that  these  people  were  on  the  de- 
fensive, and  that  defense  was  often  neces- 
sary. The  ruins  looked  very  much  older 
than  any  others  I  had  visited,  but  that 
can  in  a  measure  be  accounted  for,  I 
think,  by  the  sandy  character  of  the  dis- 
trict. Nothing  makes  an  abandoned 
building  or   other  work  of  man  look  so 


64  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

antiquated  as  drifting  sand  piled  up 
around  it.  This  town,  therefore,  may 
have  been  contemporaneous  with  the 
ruined  towns  of  the  Casas  Grandes  val- 
ley generally,  although  the  latter  look 
much  more  recent  from  being  built  on 
more  compact  soil. 

As  I  have  already  more  than  hinted, 
all  these  valleys  along  the  foothills  of 
the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains  may  have 
held  a  dense  population  when  these 
ancient  people  sojourned  here,  and  if 
the  physical  characteristics  were  the 
same  as  at  the  present  time  it  is  very 
easy  to  account  for.  To  the  westward 
it  is  too  mountainous  for  many  people 
to  find  homes  and  cultivate  the  soil, 
while  to  the  eastward  the  country  is  too 
barren  after  one  passes  the  line  of  the 
lakes,  or  where  the  mountain  rivers  sink. 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  65 

The  Strip  along  the  foothills,  between 
the  main  ridge  of  mountains  and  the 
plains,  is  about  the  only  place  where 
an  agricultural  people  could  live  in  large 
numbers  and  thrive  ;  and  now  that  the 
dreaded  Apache  Indian  has  been  finally 
subdued,  I  think  the  day  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  it  will  be  again  peopled  by  a 
community  engaged  in  peaceful  pursuits. 
These  ancients  probably  raised  every- 
thing they  needed,  so  that  there  was 
very  little  commerce  between  them,  and 
not  much  need  of  roads  or  trails, 
although  a  few  of  them  are  occasionally 
made  out  with  great  distinctness. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  plainly 
marked  road  leading  up  the  steep  sides 
of  Davis  Hill.  One  can  see  this  fully  a 
mile  away,  although  not  able  to  fully 
make  out  its  true  character  at  that  dis- 


66  CAFE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

tance ;  the  observer  might  suppose  it  to 
be  a  strip  of  light  grass  in  a  depression, 
until  his  error  was  corrected  by  a  closer 
inspection. 

The  fortifications  on  the  summit,  con- 
sidered from  a  military  standpoint,  were 
the  most  complete  that  could  be  desired. 
The  hills  retreated  on  both  sides,  giving 
full  scope  to  the  eye  up  and  down  the 
broad  valley,  every  square  yard  of  which 
was  probably  irrigated  and  cultivated. 
Without  doubt  the  fortifications  could 
safely  be  left  unguarded  in  clear  weather, 
when  the  inhabitants  would  probably  be 
at  work  on  their  farms.  A  few  keen- 
sighted  sentinels,  suitably  posted,  might 
give  notice  of  a  coming  foe  in  ample 
time  for  the  population  to  man  the 
intrenchments  before  an  attack  could 
possibly  be  made  by   the   most    rapidly 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  67 

moving  enemy.  This,  of  course,  assumes 
that  the  able-bodied  citizen  of  that  day- 
was  equally  an  artisan  or  farmer  and  a 
soldier;  it  is  an  assumption,  however, 
that  accords  with  our  knowledge  of 
many  other  ancient  races. 

On  our  way  back  to  the  hacienda 
from  these  ruins  we  passed  through  an 
old,  abandoned  Mexican  mining  town 
called  Barranca.  It  plainly  showed  its 
ancient  character  in  the  long  rows  of  slag 
that  had  come  from  the  adobe  furnaces, 
some  of  which  were  still  standing. 

Although  many  of  the  adobe  houses 
were  in  excellent  condition,  even  the  old 
church  being  in  a  fair  state  of  preserva- 
tion, there  was  not  a  soul  about  the 
place.  The  primitive  methods  of  doing 
the  work  and  the  richness  of  the  ore 
which  had  been  smelted  could  be  seen  in 


68  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

any  piece  of  slag  taken  from  the  piles. 
By  cutting  a  little  almost  pure  lead  and 
silver  were  revealed,  probably  in  the 
same  proportions  as  they  existed  in  the 
vein.  These  piles  of  slag  would  repre- 
sent a  fortune,  with  new  and  improved 
machinery  like  that  employed  in  the 
United  States,  to  resmelt  them,  and  with 
a  railway  running  near.  This  place, 
moreover,  is  only  one  of  the  many  where 
fortunes  are  lying  dormant  in  the  differ- 
ent slag  piles  of  the  old  mines  of  north- 
western Chihuahua  alone. 

It  is  difficult  to  get  information  from 
the  natives  regarding  the  mineral  wealth 
of  the  country.  If  they  have  a  good  mine 
they  are  exceedingly  shy  about  saying  so, 
and  they  are  very  jealous  lest  foreigners 
should  obtain  valuable  mining  property. 
They  dislike  to  see  it  pass  from  under 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  69 

their  control,  and  do  not  take  kindly  to 
the  foreign  spirit  of  enterprise  and 
improvement.  This,  however,  is  quite 
contrary  to  the  policy  of  the  Mexican 
Government,  which  is  doing  all  it  can  to 
induce  capital  to  come  in  for  investment. 
The  country  is  in  a  stable,  settled  condi- 
tion, and  we  found  every  part  that  we 
visited  quite  as  safe  as  the  more  settled 
communities  of  the  United  States.  The 
politeness  and  disposition  to  oblige  of 
the  humblest  of  the  Mexican  people  you 
can  rely  upon  invariably,  and  that  is 
more  than  can  be  said  of  the  cor- 
responding class  in  more  enlightened 
countries. 

This  day  of  our  visit  to  the  ruins  of 
Davis  Hill  was  very  warm,  and  our 
driver,  not  having  a  taste  for  antiquarian 
research,  even  in  the  modest  degree  pos- 


^o  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

sessed  by  me,  had  quite  resented  being 
dragged  from  the  shade  of  the  great 
Cottonwood  trees  around  the  hacienda. 
To  show  his  native  independence  of  spirit 
he  therefore  refused  to  listen  to  advice 
and  water  his  horses  on  the  road,  but  on 
returning  allowed  them  to  drink  all  they 
wanted ;  as  a  consequence  one  horse 
died.  We  left  Deming  with  two  large 
American  horses,  but  now  found  it  im- 
possible, even  on  that  great  hacienda,  to 
obtain  a  suitable  match,  so  we  were 
obliged  to  start  off  with  a  comical,  sturdy 
broncho  for  a  mate,  which  not  only  gave 
a  very  lop-sided  look  to  the  conveyance, 
but  an  appearance  of  extreme  cruelty 
toward  the  little  animal.  Whenever  the 
big  horse  trotted  the  little  fellow  would 
take  up  a  canter  to  keep  alongside,  and 
it  was  almost  enough  to   make  a  person 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  7 1 

seasick   to  watch  the  ill-mated  pair  get 
over  the  ground. 

We  were  soon  back  again  to  Corralitos, 
and  inside  the  forbidding  looking  gates. 
Here  we  were  very  comfortably  housed, 
with  a  bright  fire  burning  in  the  bedroom 
fireplace  to  take  the  chill  off  the  air,  as 
the  rooms  in  these  thick  adobe  buildings 
are  much  like  cellars  in  their  temperature, 
whether  it  is  warm  or  cold  outside.  We 
had  not  been  in  many  hours  before  other 
strangers  began  to  arrive  :  Englishmen 
from  their  ranches,  miners  from  the  silver 
mines,  a  surveying  party,  and  a  number  of 
cattlemen.  By  nightfall  the  place  was 
swarming  with  people,  and  the  problem 
was  where  to  stow  away  so  many  for  the 
night.  The  long  table  in  the  old  adobe 
dining  room  was  three  times  full.  There 
is  no  lack  of  fresh  meat  on  such  an  haci- 


72  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

enda,  all  that  is  necessary  being  to  send 
out  the  butcher,  who  kills  whatever  is 
wanted  from  the  abundant  supply  on  the 
range,  for  in  that  clear,  rare  atmosphere 
meat  is  preserved  until  used. 

There  is  another  feature  of  large  ha- 
ciendas like  this  that  may  prove  interest- 
ing. I  refer  to  the  store,  which  usually 
occupies  one  corner  of  the  building.  At 
this  store  is  found  every  kind  of  merchan- 
dise that  is  wanted,  and  here  is  doled  out 
to  the  Indian  population  in  exchange  for 
their  work  certain  quantities  of  flour  or 
sugar, — you  can  be  sure  the  amount  is 
always  very  small, — and  in  time  the  simple 
people  draw  much  more  than  is  due  them 
for  work,  as  they  are  always  allowed 
credit.  Then  it  is  they  become  peons  or 
slaves,  for  they  rarely  get  out  of  debt,  but 
increase  it  until  they  are  virtually  owned 


A    TOLl^EC  BABYLON.  73 

by  the  lords  of  the  soil,  who  can  do  as 
they  please  with  the  poor  creatures,  and 
work  them  whenever  and  wherever  they 
see  fit.  These  debts  descend  from  father 
to  son  ;  in  this  manner  they  are  continu- 
ally increasing,  and  so  the  chains  are  riv- 
eted. I  suppose  the  system  has  many 
advantages  as  well  as  disadvantages,  but 
certainly  we  see  the  disadvantages  to  the 
poor  and  simple  people,  who,  having  their 
immediate  wants  supplied,  do  not  care  to 
look  beyond.  Among  the  more  intelli- 
gent this  condition  is  very  galling,  but  as 
a  rule  they  are  shrewd  enough  to  avoid  it. 
Standing  a  short  distance  from  the 
inclosing  wall  of  the  hacienda,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  poor  quarter,  was  a  dilapi- 
dated Roman  Catholic  church.  There 
was  no  resident  priest,  but  one  came  twice 
a  year  from  a  settlement  farther  south. 


74  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

At  all  hours  of  the  day,  however,  women 
could  be  found  kneeling  in  front  of  the 
primitive  altar,  a  poor,  degraded  class, 
with  not  as  much  morality  as  the  most 
savage  tribes  who  have  never  heard  of 
civilization. 

My  trip  of  over  two  hundred  miles  down 
the  eastern  slope  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
Mountains,  from  the  boundary  between 
the  two  countries,  coupled  with  the  infor- 
mation I  gained  en  route,  showed  me  that 
I  might  do  better  by  attempting  to  make 
my  way  through  the  great  range  from  the 
westward  ;  so  it  was  decided  to  make  the 
change  of  base  from  the  State  of  Chihua- 
hua to  that  of  Sonora. 

While  visiting  at  La  Ascension  on  our 
return  trip  we  saw  about  a  dozen  Mexi- 
cans extracting  silver  from  ore  by  a 
method  which  is  as  old  as  that  mentioned 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  75 

in  the  Bible.  The  rich  ore,  showing 
probably  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
to  the  ton,  had  been  taken  out  of 
the  vein  with  crowbars  and  by  rough 
blasting,  and  then  brought  to  the  town  on 
the  backs  of  burros.  Here  the  huge  rocks 
were  first  crushed  with  sledge  hammers 
until  they  were  about  the  size  of  one's  fist 
and  could  be  easily  handled,  then  broken 
again  with  smaller  hand  hammers  until 
almost  as  fine  as  coarse  sand.  This  was 
reduced  to  a  complete  powder  by  being 
beaten  in  heavy  leather  bags.  After  these 
operations  it  was  mixed  with  water  and 
thrown  into  an  arastra,  a  cross  between  a 
coffee  mill  and  a  quartz  crusher  ;  in  other 
words,  consisting  of  four  stones  tied  to  a 
revolving  mill-bar  and  turned  by  the  inev- 
itable mule.  This  makes  a  paste  rich  in 
granulated  silver,  which  is  mixed  with  salt 


76  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  boiled  in  a  little  pot,  as  if  they  were 
making  apple  butter  instead  of  working 
one  of  the  richest  veins  of  silver  in  a  coun- 
try celebrated  for  its  valuable  silver  mines. 
The  resulting  mass  is  washed  out  in  a 
pan,  as  a  prospecting  miner  washes  for 
signs  of  gold,  with  the  exception  that 
quicksilver  is  put  in  to  form  an  amalgam 
with  the  now  liberated  metal.  The  latter 
is  pressed  out  with  the  hand,  and  the 
little  ball  of  amalgam,  as  bright  as  silver 
itself,  has  the  mercury  driven  off  by  a  fur- 
nace only  big  enough  to  fry  the  eggs 
for  a  party  of  two.  The  pure  silver  ball, 
glistening  like  hoar  frost  in  the  sun,  is 
now  beaten  down  to  the  size  of  a  big  mar- 
ble to  prevent  its  breaking  to  pieces.  It 
is  exasperating  in  the  extreme  to  see  such 
ignorant  methods  of  man  applied  to  the 
rich  offerings  of  nature. 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  77 

There  was  but  very  little  out  of  the 
usual  routine  of  travel  for  a  day  or  two, 
until  we  came  to  the  third  crossing  of 
the  Casas  Grandes  River,  at  a  point  so 
near  its  entrance  into  Laguna  Guzman 
that  we  felt  sure  we  would  have  no 
trouble  in  getting  over.  For,  as  I  have 
already  explained,  most  of  the  rivers  in 
this  country  are  larger  the  nearer  you 
approach  their  heads.  There  had  been 
no  rains  to  swell  the  streams,  and  our 
surprise  can  therefore  be  imagined  when, 
upon  reaching  the  river,  we  found  it  a 
raging  torrent.  A  long  experience  had 
taught  me  that  it  does  not  pay  to  await 
the  falling  of  a  swollen  river ;  so  we 
set  at  work  to  get  over  the  obstreperous 
stream.  The  loads  were  all  piled  on  the 
seats,  above  the  empty  wagon  beds,  which, 
being  thus  weighted  and  top-heavy,  acted 


78  CAVE  AND  CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

like  so  many  boats  when  they  dashed 
into  the  river.  Our  driver,  a  Mexican, 
had  the  worst  of  it  in  a  low,  light  wagon. 


CROSSING   THE   CASAS   GRANDES   RIVER. 


drawn  by  two  small  pinto  bronchos.  The 
flood  swept  him  down  stream  under  an 
overhanging  clump  of  willows,  despite  a 
rope  tied  to  the  tongue  of  the  wagon  and 
another  held  firmly  by  a  half  dozen  per- 
sons on  the  upstream  side.  But  he  was 
as  cool  at  the  head  as  at  the  feet,  al- 
though he  was  knee  deep  in  ice  water  at 


A    TOLTEC  BABYLON.  79 

the  time  as  he  stood  up  in  the  wagon  bed. 
After  waiting  a  moment  to  allow  the 
horses  to  regain  their  bewildered  senses, 
he  swam  them  upstream  to  the  crossing, 
and  the  men,  with  a  whoop  and  a  yell, 
dragged  the  whole  affair  on  shore,  look- 
ing like  drowned  rats  tied  to  a  cigar  box. 
We  were  three  hours  and  a  quarter 
getting  over  that  river,  and  felt  as  if  we 
could  have  drowned  the  man  who  wrote 
that  Northern  Mexico  is  a  vast,  waterless 
tract  of  country. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SONORA ALONG     THE     SONORA    RAILWAY 

HERMOSILLO GUAYMAS,    AND    ITS    BEAU- 
TIFUL    HARBOR FISHING    AND     HUNTING 

ABOUT  GUAYMAS. 

T7ROM  Demiiig,  N.  M.,  it  is  but  a  five 

-*-      or  six  hours'  ride  by  rail  to  Benson  in 

Arizona,  the   initial  point  of  the  Sonora 

railway,  a    branch   of  the   Atchison,  To- 

peka,   and    Santa  Fe,   and  extending  to 

the  seaport  of  Guaymas  in  Mexico.     The 

ride    from    Benson   consumes    two    days, 

and  the  route  is  through  the  mountains, 

down    the    lovely,     fertile    valleys,    and 

across  the   flat,   tropical    country  of    the 

seacoast.      It  is  a  ride  of  great  novelty 
80 


ALONG    THE   SO  NOR  A   RAILWAY.  8 1 

and  of  surpassing  beauty  throughout  the 
entire  distance.  After  the  train  reached 
Nogalles,  a  town  which  is  half  in  the 
United  States  and  half  in  Mexico,  it  was 
made  up  in  regular  Mexican  fashion  of 
first,  second,  and  third  class  coaches ; 
and,  from  the  number  of  Mexicans 
aboard,  it  appeared  they  were  as  much 
given  to  travel  as  their  more  active 
neighbors  of  the  North  ;  with  this  differ- 
ence, however  :  that  where  they  can  save 
a  penny  by  going  second  or  third  class 
they  do  so.  This  fact  removes  an  inter- 
esting feature  of  Mexican  travel  from  the 
sight  of  the  average  American  tourist, 
for,  as  a  rule,  he  prefers  comfort  to  the 
study  of  the  picturesque  in  his  fellow- 
travelers. 

When  we  reached  Hermosillo,  a  place 
of  about   ten  thousand    people,  the  sta- 


82  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

tion  was  filled  with  vendors  of  oranges ; 
and  such  oranges  I  never  tasted  else- 
where, although  I  have  sampled  that 
fruit  in  some  of  the  most  famous  groves 
of  Florida  and  California.  In  sweetness, 
delicious  flavor,  and  juiciness  they  sur- 
pass all  others  ;  in  fact  it  is  impossible 
to  find  a  poor  or  insipid  one  among  all 
you  can  buy  and  eat.  It  is  a  pity  there 
is  so  little  market  for  this  very  superior 
fruit.  The  entire  country  from  Hermo- 
sillo  down  to  the  coast  seems  to  be  a  per- 
fect one  for  orange  culture,  and  for  all 
other  semi-tropical  fruits.  The  prices 
paid  for  oranges  are  very  reasonable,  for 
much  more  is  grown  than  can  be  con- 
sumed, and  there  seems  to  be  little  outlet 
for  the  surplus   in   any  direction. 

Just  before  reaching  Guaymas  the  rail- 
way winds    among    the    coast   range  of 


GUAYMAS,   AND  ITS  HARBOR.  83 

mountains,  and  crosses  a  shallow  arm  of 
the  sea  that  is  bridged  with  a  long  trestle. 
As  you  pass  over  the  bridge  you  can 
look  across  the  harbor  through  the  gaps 
in  the  steep  mountains  straight  out  to 
sea,  or  rather  into  the  Gulf  of  California. 
Again  you  are  treated  to  long  vistas  of 
the  beautiful  mountain-locked  harbor  as 
the  train  winds  around  the  steep  peaks 
and  you  approach  the  old  seaport.  Be- 
fore going  to  this  port,  the  principal  one 
on  the  Gulf  of  California,  I  made  up  my 
mind  there  would  be  comparatively  little 
to  say  regarding  it,  as  it  is  not  only  the 
terminus  of  a  railway,  but  is  also  located 
on  one  or  two  lines  of  steamship  travel, 
and  would  therefore  be  almost  as  well 
known  as  some  California  resorts  or 
other  famous  places  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
It  proved,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  seldom 


84  CAVE   AND    CLlfF  DWELLERS. 

or  never  visited  by  tourists.  I  could  find 
nothing  about  it  in  my  numerous  guide- 
books and  volumes  devoted  to  Mexico, 
but  nevertheless  discovered  a  great  deal 
of  interest  in  this  typical  old  town  that 
was  both  novel  and  attractive.  When 
the  Sonora  railway  first  reached  here 
a  number  of  years  ago  everything  was 
ready  to  be  ''boomed."  A  hotel  to  cost 
a  quarter  of  a  million  was  started  on  a 
beautiful  knoll  overlooking  the  pictur- 
esque harbor,  but  after  about  one-tenth 
that  amount  had  been  put  into  the  foun- 
dation and  carriage  way  leading  up  the 
hill  it  was  given  up. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  say 
that  all  of  Guaymas  is  very  much  like 
the  hotel — it  has  a  fine  foundation,  but 
not  much  of  anything  else,  although  its 
sanitary  conditions    for   a   winter   resort 


GUAYMAS,   AND  ITS  HARBOR.  85 

are  nowhere  else  excelled.  The  first  day 
you  arrive  you  get  a  sample  of  the 
weather  in  mild,  warm  days,  with  cool 
nights,  that  will  not  vary  a  hair's  breadth 
in  all  your  stay.  The  harbor  is  pictur- 
esque in  the  extreme.  It  is  completely 
landlocked,  and  swarms  with  a  hundred 
kinds  of  fishes.  It  looks  not  unlike  the 
harbor  of  San  Francisco,  and,  although 
smaller,  is  far  more  interesting  in  the 
many  beautiful  vistas  it  opens  to  sight  as 
one  sails  over  its  intricate  waters.  If  it 
should  ever  become  a  popular  winter 
resort  no  finer  fishing  or  sailing  could  be 
had  than  in  the  harbor  of  Guaymas  and 
the  Gulf  of  California.  A  constant  sea 
or  land  breeze  is  blowing  in  summer  and 
winter,  but  it  is  never  strong  enough  to 
make  the  waters  danorerous.  I  have 
been   fishing  several  times,  and  certainly 


86  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  piscatorial  bill  of  fare,  as  shown  by 
my  experience,  has  been  an  extremely 
varied  one. 

While  off  the  shore  in  the  harbor  one 
afternoon  I  caught  a  shark  measuring  a 
little  over  six  feet  in  length,  which  gave 
me  a  tussle  of  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
before  I  could  pull  it  alongside  and 
plunge  a  knife  into  its  heart.  This  last 
operation,  be  it  observed,  was  not  so 
much  to  end  its  own  sufferings  as  to  pre- 
vent those  of  other  and  better  fish,  and 
maybe  a  human  being  or  so,  in  the  near 
future.  The  natives  told  me,  however, 
that  it  was  only  the  large  spotted  or 
tiger  shark,  a  species  seldom  seen  there, 
that  will  deign  to  mistake  the  leg  of  a 
swimmer  for  the  early  worm  that  is 
caught  by  the  bird.  None  of  the  shark 
kind  enter  the  inner  harbor  where  a  sen- 


GUAYMAS,   AND  ITS  HARBOR.  89 

sible  person  would  naturally  bathe,  as  he 
wants  enough  water  to  hide  his  move- 
ments from  his  prey,  and  this  condition 
seldom  exists  in  the  inner  harbor.  In- 
deed its  name,  Guaymas,  borrowed  from 
that  of  an  Indian  tribe,  means  a  cup  of 
water ;  and  it  is  aptly  applied,  for  the 
harbor  is  so  landlocked  and  protected 
that  seldom  more  than  the  slightest  rip- 
ple disturbs  its  mirror-like  surface,  al- 
thoucrh  breezes  that  will  waft  sailboats 
prevail  throughout  the  day. 

As  a  further  part  of  my  fishing  experi- 
ence we  caught  a  number  of  perch-like 
fish  called  by  the  people  cabrilla  (mean- 
ing little  goat-fish,  on  account  of  some 
fancied  resemblance  to  that  animal,  so 
numerous  in  the  settled  parts  of  Mexico), 
and  which  is  pronounced  the  sweetest 
fish  known  on  the  Pacific  coast.     They 


90  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

are  not  as  big  as  one's  liand,  and,  of 
course,  it  takes  a  great  many  of  tliem  to 
make  a  mess  for  a  few  persons,  but  once 
a  mess  Is  secured  it  cannot  be  equaled  in 
all  the  catches  known  to  the  piscatorial 
art.  Another  fish  tliat  we  secured,  and 
which  the  natives  call  boca  dtdce  (sweet 
mouth),  looked  like  a  German  carp.  It 
had  a  pale  blue  head,  weighed  from  two 
to  four  pounds,  and  seemed  to  run  in 
schools,  with  no  truants  whatever  to  be 
found  outside  the  school.  One  might 
fish  a  day  for  the  boca  dulce  and  never 
get  a  bite,  but  on  the  instant  one  was 
caught  you  could  haul  them  in  over  the 
side  of  the  boat  as  fast  as  you  could  bait 
and  drop  your  hook,  the  biting  ceasing 
as  suddenly  as  it  began.  They  are  a 
delicious  fish  for  eating,  and  should 
Guaymas    ever    become   the    large-sized 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  91 

city  which  its  favorable  position  seems  to 
promise,  the  boca  dulce  will  furnish  one 
of  the  leading  fishes  for  its  market. 

While  we  were  there  the  United  States 
Fish  Commission  steamer  Albatross 
came  into  the  harbor  from  a  long  cruise 
in  investigating  the  fishes  of  the  Gulf  of 
California,  and  Captain  Tanner  of  the 
United  States  Navy  told  a  small  party 
of  us  that  there  were  enough  fish  in  the 
Gulf  of  California  to  supply  all  the  mar- 
kets of  Mexico  and  the  United  States. 
Singularly  enough,  nearly  all  this  great 
fish  supply  in  the  Gulf  was  along  the  east- 
ern coast  of  this  American  Adriatic,  or 
on  the  Sonora  and  Sinaloa  side,  rather 
than  on  or  along  the  coast  of  Lower  Cali- 
fornia. A  good  system  of  railways  to  the 
interior.mining  camps  is  needed  to  make 
this  great  supply  available  to  the  wealth 


92  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

of  this  naturally  wealthy,  but  now  poorly 
developed  country.  This  will  inevitably 
come,  for  no  one  can  travel  in  Northern 
Mexico  without  clearly  seeing  it  has  a 
grand  and  wonderful  future  ahead,  that 
will  greatly  strengthen  us  if  we  are  in  the 
ascendant,  and  that  can  correspondingly 
hurt  us  in  an  hour  of  need  if  we  are  not. 
The  tide  is  rapidly  setting  in  our  favor,  if 
we  take  proper  advantage  of  it. 

When  I  first  sailed  on  the  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  California,  some  eighteen  years 
ago,  its  commerce,  although  small  indeed, 
was  three-fourths  in  the  hands  of  Euro- 
peans, while  to-day  three-fourths  of  it  is 
American,  and  only  the  other  fourth 
European.  We  labor  under  one  disad- 
vantage, however,  and  that  is  we  do  not 
attempt  to  cater  to  another's  taste,  even 
though  to  do  so  would  be  money  in  our 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  93 

pockets.  There  are  peculiar  lines  of 
cheap  prints  and  cottons  made  in  Europe 
that  are  sold  only  on  the  west  coast  of 
Mexico,  not  a  yard  finding  its  way  to  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  Now,  while  our 
goods  command  higher  prices,  and  a  great 
deal  finds  a  market  there,  it  does  not 
"  exactly  fill  the  bill,"  and  Americans, 
probably  from  not  knowing  the  real  wants 
of  these  people,  do  not  manufacture  the 
needed  articles,  and  drive  foreign  stuff 
from  the  Mexican  market.  The  igno- 
rance of  our  people  as  to  the  commercial 
value  of  Mexico,  and  especially  those 
parts  off  the  principal  lines  of  railway,  is 
certainly  great,  and  is  losing  us  money 
now,  and  a  more  important  influence 
later.  Our  enormous  advantage  of  con- 
tiguity is  pressing  us  forward  in  spite  of 
ourselves,  and  we  ought'  to  sweep  nearly 


94  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

every  line  of  commerce  in  Mexico  from 
the  hands  of  foreigners — a  fact  that  is 
most  emphatically  true  of  the  northern 
part  of  that  rich  territory. 

After  cooking  our  lunch  oicabrillas  and 
boca  dulces  on  the  northern  or  inside  shore 
of  San  Vincente  Island  we  made  a  visit 
to  the  caves  on  the  southern  or  seaward 
face  of  the  same  island.  This  led  us 
through  a  little  gorge  between  two  high, 
beetling  cliffs,  into  which  the  sea  had 
excavated  the  caves  we  were  to  see. 
Through,  or  rather  under,  this  gorge 
the  waters  pour  into  a  small  underground 
funnel  of  the  solid  rock  before  they  reach 
the  little  lagoon  beyond.  At  all  hours 
the  reverberation  of  the  rushing  tide  is 
like  thunder,  as  it  beats  backward  and  for- 
ward in  its  prison.  The  upper  crust  of 
the  funnel  is  pierced  with  occasional  holes 


^-^.^.:^, 


1,1ft 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING,  9? 

and  crevices,  and  at  certain  stages  of 
water  these  are  the  mouths  of  so  many 
spouting  geysers,  as  each  wave  comes  in 
and  beats  against  the  stone  roof  that  con- 
fines it.  Woe  to  the  person  who  tries  to 
cross  just  as  a  high  wave  reaches  its  max- 
imum strength  in  the  cave  beneath  !  He 
will  get  the  quickest  and  most  effectual 
bath  of  his  lifetime.  Once  on  the  sea- 
ward face  a  long  line  of  caves  is  presented 
to  view. 

The  high  hills  here  are  hard  conglom- 
erate, and  the  waves  of  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia, as  we  call  it  (the  Gulf  of  Cortez 
as  it  was  first  named,  and  is  yet  called  by 
most  Mexicans),  have  cut  far  under  the 
cliffs,  leaving  overhanging  masses  of 
rock,  sometimes  hundreds  of  feet  in 
depth,  as  measured  along  the  roofs  under 
which  we  walked.     They  looked  forbid- 


98  CAVE  AND   CUFF  DWELLERS. 

ding  enough,  and  we  feared  that  a  few 
hundred  tons  might  at  any  moment  fall 
on  our  heads  ;  for  here  and  there  could 
be  seen  just  such  deposits  in  the  shallow 
waters,  while  occasional  islands  were  dis- 
cerned along  the  front  of  some  of  the 
caves  which  must  have  been  formed  when 
greater  masses  fell.  But  these  fallings 
were  without  doubt  centuries  apart,  and 
all  these  caves  fully  as  safe  to  explore  as 
caves  in  general.  At  any  rate,  every 
thought  of  danger  was  soon  lost  in  the 
delicious  coolness ;  for  the  day  on  the 
shining  water  and  white  sand  beach  had 
been  very  warm,  although  we  hardly 
noticed  it  in  the  excitement  of  our  sport. 
The  coloring  in  the  largest  cave  was 
beautiful  beyond  description.  The  sketch 
of  our  artist  is  as  good  as  black  and 
white  can  make  it ;  but   it   conveys  little 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  99 

idea  of  the  reality,  save  form  and  con- 
tour. There  was  a  narrow  ledge  on  the 
skirts  of  the  cave  where  one  could  find  a 
way  to  enter,  except  at  the  highest  tide 
or  when  a  storm  was  beating  landward, 
which  is  seldom  the  case,  and  never 
known  during  the  winter  months. 

Guaymas  has  a  wealth  of  natural  attrac- 
tions for  the  winter  visitor  or  traveler,  but 
hardly  any  reared  by  the  hand  of  man  to 
make  his  stay  agreeable  in  a  strictly 
physical  sense.  The  hotels  are  all  Mexi- 
can, and  while  they  should  be  judged 
from  that  standpoint,  probably  to  an 
American  they  would  be  very  uncom- 
fortable. Our  hotel  was  a  curious  com- 
pound of  saloon,  kitchen,,  dining  room, 
and  court,  all  in  one,  with  sleeping  rooms 
ranged  along  two  sides.  One  end  of  the 
building  opened  on  a  street,  and  the  other 


lOO  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

directly  on  the  beautiful  bay,  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  water.  The  views 
in  all  directions  from  the  water  front  of 
that  simple  hotel  were  indescribably 
lovely,  causing  one  to  forget  the  discom- 
forts of  the  interior  and  the  lack  of  cleanly 
food. 

Even  the  inhabitants,  in  their  Nazarene 
primitiveness,  are  very  interesting.  Al- 
though Guaymas  claims  seven  thousand 
within  her  gates,  her  waterworks  are  of 
the  same  character  as  those  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  The  chief  description  I  shall 
give  of  them  is  a  picture  of  one  of  the 
public  wells  just  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
town.  The  water  from  these  wells  is 
used  only  for  sprinkling  the  streets,  and 
for  household  purposes,  such  as  washing, 
it  being  totally  unfit  for  drinking.  That 
precious  fluid   is    brought  from  a  spring 


J  iSlh 


FISHING  AND   HUNTING.  103 

fully  seven  miles  back  in  the  mountains. 
We  were  told  that  this  water  could  be 
easily  piped  into  the  town,  and  that  there 
was  some  talk  of  an  attempt  to  do  so,  for 
the  sleepy  old  place  is  beginning  to 
awaken  to  the  fact  that  the  world  is  mov- 
ing ahead. 

Near  the  town  is  a  sort  of  pleasure  gar- 
den, or  ranch,  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 
It  is  owned  by  an  industrious  German, 
who  sank  a  number  of  wells  on  the  place, 
and  obtained  warm,  cold,  and  mineral 
waters,  and  established  baths,  which  are 
very  popular  with  the  people  and  make 
the  place  quite  a  resort.  There  are 
groves  of  all  kinds  of  tropical  fruits  and 
plants,  with  flowers  in  the  greatest  pro- 
fusion ;  the  brilliant,  gorgeous  flowers  of 
the  tropics  growing  beside  the  more 
modest  ones  of  the  temperate  zone,  and 


I04  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

making  the  arid,  rocky  region  beautiful 
with  blossoms  and  shade.  During  the 
rainy  season  this  country  is  the  home  of 
the  tarantula,  the  centipede,  and  the  scor- 
pion, for  they  flourish  equally  as  well  as 
the  flowers. 

In  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  American 
Consulate,  facing  the  principal  plaza,  is 
lodged  a  piece  of  a  shell,  thrown  there, 
singularly  enough,  by  an  American  man- 
of-war  when  Guaymas  was  taken  in  1847, 
during  the  Mexican  War.  At  that  time 
the  Portsmouth  and  the  Congress  entered 
the  harbor,  shelled  the  town,  and  took  it. 
The  piece  of  shell  referred  to  lodged  in 
the  huge  wooden  rafters  of  the  building, 
and  as  these  are  never  covered  in  the 
simple  architecture  of  that  country  its 
rusty,  round  side  is  plainly  visible  from 
beneath.     From  the  positions  assigned  to 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  105 

the  vessels  it  is  said  to  have  been  the 
Congress^  she  of  Monitor-Merrimac  fame 
afterward ;  and  as  the  American  flag  still 
floats  from  the  staff  directly  over  the 
shell  it  is  quite  an  interesting  and  historic 
piece  of  iron.  Very  few  Americans, 
however,  associate  the  quiet  little  town 
of  Guaymas  with  any  event  of  the  war 
waged  so  long  ago  that  its  memories  are 
almost  lost  in  the  later  and  greater  war 
of  civil  strife. 

In  the  good  old  times  Guaymas  used 
to  have  revolutions  of  its  own.  When- 
ever a  governor  of  the  place  was  finan- 
cially embarrassed,  or  imagined  he  would 
soon  be  replaced  by  some  fresh  favorite 
from  the  City  of  Mexico,  he  would  issue 
a  proclamation  and  send  around  to  mer- 
chant after  merchant  to  take  up  a  collec- 
tion.    If  they  had  the  temerity  to  object, 


Io6  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

not  wishing  to  part  with  their  worldly 
goods  in  that  fashion,  one  of  their  num- 
ber was  selected  as  an  example,  taken 
out  and  shot,  which  had  the  desired 
effect  of  causing  the  others  to  come  to 
time.  We  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
one  of  the  old-time  governors  who  had 
ruled  in  this  fashion.  He  now  holds  an 
important  position,  is  a  man  of  great 
wealth,  and  a  distinguished  citizen — a 
tall,  fine-looking  man — but  I  could  not 
help  thinking  he  looked  the  born  pirate, 
and  would  enjoy  playing  the  despot  again 
if  he  had  the  opportunity. 

The  great  mass  of  the  working  class  of 
this  western  part  of  Mexico  are  the  Yaqui 
and  Mayo  Indians,  portions  of  these 
tribes  being  civilized,  and  others  adhering 
to  their  wild  and  nomadic  life  in  the 
mountains.     They   are   one  of  the  most 


FISHING  AND   HUN7ING.  107 

interesting  features  of  the  country.  For 
years  savage  members  of  the  Yaqui  tribe 
have  waged  bloody  and  successful  wars 
against  tbe  Mexican  Government,  and 
have  been  the  principal  cause  of  the  slow 
development  of  the  Gulf  coast ;  but  since 
the  death  of  their  famous  leader  Cajeme 
they  have  been  peaceable  and  quiet.  As 
a  race  they  are  remarkably  stalwart,  hand- 
some, and  aggressive,  and  are  said  to  be 
able  to  endure  any  extremes  of  heat  or 
cold.  They  are  enlisted  in  the  service  of 
the  government  whenever  it  is  possible, 
and  make  the  best  soldiers  obtainable  for 
this  particular  country. 

While  in  Guaymas  I  heard  from  reli- 
able sources  that  the  jabali,  peccary,  or 
Mexican  wild  hog,  was  quite  plentiful 
along  the  line  of  the  Sonora  Railway, 
and  determined  to  get  up  a  small  party 


lo8  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  attack  these  pugnacious  pigs  in  their 
own  haunts.  The  jabali  (pronounced 
hah-va-lee  in  the  Mexican  version  of  the 
Spanish  language)  is  the  wijd  hog  of 
Northern  Mexico,  and  while  one  of  them 
is  in  no  wise  equal  to  the  wild  boar  of 
other  countries,  still,  as  they  go  in  droves, 
and  are  equal  in  courage,  they  more  than 
make  up  in  numbers  all  they  lose  by 
being  considered  individually.  Up  to 
this  time  my  game  list  had  included  polar 
bears,  chipmunks,  moose,  jack  rabbits, 
grizzlies,  snipe,  elk,  buffalo,  snow  birds, 
reindeer,  vultures,  panther,  and  others, 
but  as  yet  the  scalp  of  no  peccary  dangled 
from  my  belt.  So  one  fine  morning  we 
pulled  out  for  Torres  station,  about 
twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  up  the  railway, 
where  peccaries  could  be  expected,  and 
where  horses  (better  speaking,  the  buck- 


FISHING  AND   HUNTING.  109 

ing  broncho  of  the  Southwest)  could  be 
procured,  together  with  guides,  ropers-in, 
etc. 

The  fertile  soil  and  warm  sunshine  of 
Sonora  quickens  the  imagination  in  away 
unknown  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
United  States,  with  its  colder  clime  and 
cloudy  skies.  The  day  before  starting  I 
had  done  a  good  deal  of  telegraphing  up 
the  Sonora  railway  to  learn  just  where 
these  peccaries  might  be  the  most  numer- 
ous, and  the  replies  were  enthusiastic  as 
well  as  comical.  Carbo  sent  back  w^ord 
that  the  section  men  on  the  railway  had 
to  "shoo"  th^jabalis  off  the  track  so  as 
to  repair  it ;  another  station  reported  that 
wild  hogs  were  seen  every  day  except 
Sundays  ;  another  station  said  there  was 
a  Yaqui  Indian  guide  there  who  went  out 
with  a  lasso  and  a  long,  sharpened  stick. 


no  CAFE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  brought  in  a  peccary  every  morning 
before  breakfast  ;  while  Torres  thought  I 
could  have  jabali  about  three  miles  from 
there.  This  was  the  most  modest  report 
and  the  nearest  station,  so  I  decided  on 
Torres. 

The  country  along  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  Sonora  railway  would  be 
interesting  in  the  extreme  to  one  un- 
familiar with  tropical  or  sub-tropical 
countries.  Its  vegetation  was  most 
curious,  and  the  surrounding  country 
picturesque.  Fine  scenery  can,  indeed, 
be  viewed  in  a  thousand  places  in  our 
own  country,  but  it  is  not  characterized 
with  such  a  wonderful  plant  growth  as 
we  saw  that  morning  on  our  way  to  the 
slaughter  grounds  of  the  peccaries.  Here 
was  the  universal  mesquite,  looking  like 
a  dwarfed  apple  tree,  and  that  affords  the 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  m 

brightest  fire  of  any  wood  ever  burned. 
The  tender  of  our  eng^ine  was  filled  with 
ix,  and,  as  far  as  fuel  was  concerned, 
we  could  have  made  sixty  miles  an  hour, 
had  we  wished  to  do  so.  The  wood  of 
the  mesquite  is  of  a  beautiful  bright 
cherry  red  ;  many  a  time  I  have  won- 
dered if  this  plentiful,  tough,  and  twisted 
timber  of  the  far  Southwest  could  not  be 
utilized  in  some  way  as  a  fancy  wood ; 
certainly  a  more  beautiful  color  was  never 
seen.  Occasionally  I  thought  I  saw  my 
old  friend  the  sagebrush ;  then  there  was 
the  iron  wood  (^palo  de  kierro),  that  looks 
like  a  very  fine  variety  of  the  mesquite. 
Its  name  is  derived  from  its  hardness,  and 
is  well  deserved.  It  requires  an  ax  to 
fell  each  tree,  and  as  the  quality  of  differ- 
ent trees  is  always  the  same,  and  that  of 
different  axes  is  not,  even   this  ratio  of 


112  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

one  ax  to  one  tree  has  to  be  changed 
occasionally,  and  always  in  favor  of  the 
tree.  There  was  a  story  going  the  rounds 
that  a  tramp,  who  had  wandered  into 
that  country  (tramps  sometimes  get  lost 
and  find  themselves  in  Sonora  just  once), 
with  the  usual  appetite  of  his  class  ap- 
plied for  something  to  eat.  In  reply  he 
was  told,  if  he  would  get  out  a  certain 
number  of  rails  for  a  fence,  the  proprietor 
would  give  him  a  week's  board.  It  was, 
as  he  thought,  about  a  day's  work  that 
had  been  assigned  him,  and  bright  and 
early  next  morning  he  sallied  out  with  his 
ax  on  his  shoulder.  Unfortunately  the 
most  tempting  tree  he  met  was  an  iron- 
wood.  Very  late  in  the  evening  he  re- 
turned with  the  ax  helve  on  his  arm. 
"  How  many  rails  did  you  split  to-day?" 
was    asked.     "  I    did    not    split  any,   but 


FISHING  AND   HUNTING.  1 13 

I    hewed   out  one,"   was  the  reply  ;  and 
then  he  resigned  his  position. 

There  is  also  \}s\^  palo  verde,  named  for 
its  color,  with  its  bright,  vivid  green  leaf, 
twig,  and  bark,  and  its  pretty  yellow  blos- 
soms, making  a  beautiful  contrast  with 
the  more  somber  green  of  other  trees. 
Occasionally  great  rows  of  cottonwoods 
(the  alamo  of  the  Mexicans)  show  the 
line  of  water  courses,  while  a  number  of 
shrubs  covered  with  blossoms  are  seen, 
apparently  half  tree,  half  cactus,  so  thick 
are  their  brambles  and  thorns.  But  as 
to  cactus !  There  are  ^v^  hundred  spe- 
cies in  America,  of  which  Mexico  has 
a  large  plurality,  and  the  majority  of 
these  can  be  found  along  this  end  of  the 
Sonora  railway.  There  is  the  giant  pita- 
haya,  sometimes  with  a  dozen  arms,  each 
as  big  as  an  ordinary  tree,  and  from  thirty 


114  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

to  forty  feet  in  height.  Each  arm  has 
a  score  of  pulpy  ribs  along  its  sides,  and 
each  rib  has  a  button  of  thorns  every  inch 
along  its  length,  each  button  having 
twenty  or  twenty-four  great  thorns  stick- 
ing from  it.  I  was  told  that  when  a 
hunter  is  sorely  pressed  by  peccaries,  if 
he  will  climb  a  pitahaya  about  ten  feet, 
the  thorns  are  so  thick  and  terrible  in 
their  effect  that  the  peccaries  will  not 
dare  to  follow  him,  hardy  and  venture- 
some as  they  are.  Then  there  is  the 
choya  or  cholla  cactus,  about  as  high  as 
one's  waist.  You  can  go  around  a  pita- 
haya as  you  would  a  tree,  but  when  you 
find  a  field  of  chopalla  (field  of  choyas) 
you  might  as  well  try  to  go  around  the 
atmosphere  to  get  to  a  given  point. 
The  cholla  will  lean  over  until  it  breaks 
its  back  trying  to  get  in  your  way,  so  that 


A    PITAHAYA   CACTUS. 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  117 

it  can  dart  a  dozen  or  two  spines  into  your 
flesh.  They  are  the  worst  of  all ;  I  could 
use  almost  as  much  of  my  readers'  time 
in  describing  different  cactuses  as  I  used  of 
my  own  in  picking  them  out  of  my  flesh 
after  the  peccary  hunt  was  over,  but  I 
forbear. 

When  we  reached  Torres  nobody 
seemed  to  know  anything  about  pec- 
caries, and  as  the  train  stopped  there  for 
dinner  we  had  plenty  of  time  to  talk  it 
over.  It  then  appeared  that  wild  hogs 
were  to  be  found  all  the  way  from  Guay- 
mas  to  Nogalles,  but  at  this  time  of  the 
year  were  very  scarce,  and  seen  only  in 
twos  or  threes,  and  not  in  droves.  In 
droves  they  are  pugnacious  and  will 
easily  bay ;  but  in  pairs  or  very  small 
numbers  they  are  more  timid,  and  not 
until  they  are  exhausted  or  overtaken  by 


Il8  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

a  swifter  pursuer  will  they  show  fight. 
No  jadaUs  could  be  depended  on,  and,  as 
I  had  only  a  day  or  two  to  spare,  I 
determined  to  move  on  to  Carbo,  where 
the  prospects  seemed  better,  and  which 
place  we  reached  in  time  for  supper. 
This  over  we  busied  ourselves  about  our 
horses,  mules,  guides,  dogs,  etc.  The 
superintendent  of  the  railway  at  Guaymas 
had  kindly  volunteered  to  telegraph  to 
any  point  and  secure  us  a  Yaqui  Indian 
or  two  to  guide  us  after  the  jada/zs,  and 
any  number  of  hundreds  of  dogs  to  bay 
them  if  needed.  He  said  he  could 
guarantee  the  dogs  (and  so  could  any- 
one else  who  knew  anything  about  a 
Mexican  village),  but  he  felt  dubious 
about  the  Yaqui  Indians.  We  secured 
four  broncho  horses  and  two  dejected 
mules  for  the  next  day,  and  then  went  to 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  1 19 

sleep.  I  unrolled  my  blankets  and 
buffalo  robe,  laid  them  down  on  the  rail- 
way station  platform,  and,  as  the  night 
was  cold,  had  a  fine  sleep.  The  morn- 
ing broke  as  clear  as  crystal,  and  we  were 
up  bright  and  early  ;  but  in  spite  of  all  our 
Caucasian  hurry  we  did  not  get  away  until 
shortly  after  nine  o'clock.  Our  first  desti- 
nation was  a  ranch  two  miles  to  the  south- 
east of  the  town,  owned  by  Colonel  Muiloz. 
Here  we  were  to  get  a  Yaqui  Indian  for 
a  guide,  and  learn  the  latest  quotations 
as  to  the  peccary  market.  Shortly  after 
rising  in  the  morning  heavy  clouds  were 
seen  in  the  northeast,  which  kept  spread- 
ing and  coming  nearer  and  nearer,  with 
vivid  flashes  of  lightning  and  loud  rum- 
blings of  thunder,  until  just  about  the 
time  we  were  halfway  to  the  ranch  of 
Colonel  Mufloz  it  broke  over  us  with  the 


I20  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

full  fury  of  a  Sonora  thunderstorm.  Its 
worst  feature  was  its  persistency.  I 
never  saw  a  thunderstorm  hang  on  for 
six  or  seven  hours  before  in  all  my  life, 
but  this  did,  much  to  our  personal  dis- 
comfort, and,  worst  of  all,  to  the  serious 
detriment  of  the  hunt. 

Arriving  at  the  ranch,  we  found  that 
the  Yaqui  Indian  guide,  who,  by  the  way, 
was  a  famous  peccary  hunter,  was  absent, 
working  on  a  distant  part  of  the  hacienda. 
Now  a  hacienda  or  ranch  in  Sonora  is 
about  as  large  as  a  county  in  most  of  our 
States,  and  it  requires  efficient  messenger 
service  to  get  over  one  inside  of  half  a 
day.  We  sent  for  him,  however,  and  as  a 
small  boy  present  volunteered  the  infor- 
mation that  he  thought  he  could  guide 
the  party  to  where  a  pig  might  be  lurk- 
ing in  the  brush,  we  concluded  we  would 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  1 21 

take  a  short  spin  with  him  while  waiting 
for  the  Yaqiii  Indian.  He  based  his 
expectation  of  a  jabali  on  the  rain  that 
had  been  falling,  which  sent  the  wild  hogs 


A   MEXICAN   JABALI. 

out,  made  it  easy  to  trail  them,  and 
brought  them  to  bay  sooner  than  if  the 
weather  had  been  dry.  There  was  no 
horse  for  the  youngster  to  ride,  so  he  was 
taken  on  behind  one  of  the  party,  and  we 
started  out  in  the  pelting  rain  after  "  the 
poor  little  pigs,"  as  one  of  the  sefloras  of 


122  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  hacienda  put  it.  As  the  poor  little 
pigs  have  been  known  to  keep  a  man  up 
a  tree  for  three  days,  we  felt  more  like 
wasting  ammunition  than  sympathy  on 
them. 

The  rain  now  came  down  in  torrents, 
vivid  sheets  of  lightning  played  in  our 
faces,  and  the  rumbling  of  the  thunder 
was  often  so  loud  we  could  not  hear  the 
shoutings  of  one  another.  Now,  indeed, 
we  were  anxious  to  get  a  peccary  ;  for 
while  a  little  rain  helps  the  hunter  in  his 
chase  after  wild  hogs,  such  a  deluge  is 
entirely  against  him.  The  dry  gullies 
were  running  water  that  would  swim  a 
peccary,  and  this  was  in  their  favor  in 
escaping  from  the  dogs,  for  I  should  have 
said  we  had  two  doofs  with  us :  one  a 
noble-looking  fellow  for  a  hunt,  and 
resembling     a    Cuban    bloodhound,  the 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  123 

Other  a  most  dejected-looking  whelp,  a 
cross  between  a  mongrel  and  a  cur.  The 
whole  affair  was  the  sloppiest,  wettest 
failure,  and  about  noon  we  got  back  to 
the  hacienda,  looking  like  drowned  rats. 
A  good  Mexican  dinner  of  chili  con 
carne,  red  peppers,  tabasco,  and  a  few 
other  warm  condiments  was  never  better 
appreciated,  and  as  the  Yaqui  Indian 
had  put  in  an  appearance  we  crawled 
back  into  our  wet  saddles,  with  our 
clothes  sticking  to  us  like  postage  stamps, 
and  once  more  sallied  out.  While  we 
were  eating  dinner  the  rain  had  ceased, 
and  our  otherwise  dampened  hopes  had 
gone  up  in  consequence ;  but  when  we 
were  about  a  mile  away  it  seemed  as  if 
the  very  floodgates  of  heaven  had  opened 
and  let  all  the  water  down  the  back  of 
our    necks.     Gullies   we  had    crossed  in 


124  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

coming  out  almost  dry  now  ran  noisy, 
muddy  waters  up  to  the  horses'  middle, 
and  in  some  places  halfway  up  their  sides. 
Thus  we  kept  along  for  an  hour  or  so, 
wet  to  the  skin,  and  even  under  the  skin, 
cholla  cactus  burs  sticking  to  us  until  we 
looked  like  sheep.  About  two  o'clock 
we  heard  loud  shouts,  and  away  we  tore 
through  cactus  spines  and  shrubby  thorns, 
for  it  was  a  sign  there  were  peccaries 
ahead.  Indeed  they  were  ahead,  and  we 
chased  them  for  eight  miles.  The  ground 
was  slippery,  and  the  unshod  ponies  went 
sliding  around  over  it  like  cats  on  ice 
with  clam  shells  tied  to  their  feet.  I 
weighed  265  pounds,  and  my  small  pony 
not  over  two  or  three  times  as  much,  and 
how  he  kept  up  with  the  others,  swing- 
ing through  choyallas  and  around  thick 
mesquite     brush    is     yet     a     mystery. 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  125 

Occasionally  a  horse  would  get  a  bunch 
of  cactus  in  his  fetlock  joint,  and  then  he 
would  turn  up  his  heels   to  let  the  light- 


CHASING   THE  JABALIS   IN   THE   RAIN. 

ning  pick  it  out,  regardless  of  his  rider. 
Once  or  twice  the  peccaries  were  sighted 
as  two  faint  gray  streaks,  just  outlined 
against  the  dark  green  brush,  into  which 
they  disappeared  at  once.  Several  times 
it  looked  as  if  we  ought  to  overtake  them 
in  a  minue  or  two,  but  that  minute  never 
came.  Our  Yaqui  guide  was  valiantly  to 
the  front,  making  leaps  over  cactuses  that 


126  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS, 

would  have  shamed  a  kangaroo,  and  keep- 
ing well  ahead  of  the  horses.  Suddenly 
he  stopped  and  gave  up  the  chase  on  the 
near  side  of  a  broad  river,  the  result  of 
the  rain.  His  face  was  melancholy  in 
the  extreme,  and  it  was  known  he  would 
not  give  up  the  chase  without  the  best  of 
reasons,  as  he  was  to  receive  a  month's 
wages  (five  dollars)  if  a  jabali  were 
killed.  He  explained  in  Spanish  that  the 
party  had  been  following  the  hogs  with  an 
absolute  certainty  of  catching  them,  so 
tired  had  they  become,  when,  to  his 
dismay,  the  tracks  of  three  other  fresh 
peccaries  were  seen  coming  in  at  this 
point.  Whenever  irGshjabalis  join  those 
worn  out  enough  to  come  to  bay,  the 
latter  change  their  minds  as  to  fighting, 
and  will  run  as  long  as  their  fresh  com- 
panions hold  out.     We  thus  would  have 


FISHING  AND  HUNTING.  127 

had  another  eight  to  twelve  miles'  chase 
through  the  slippery  mud,  which  the 
horses  and  mules  could  not  have  endured, 
so  exhausted  were  they  already.  We  had 
seen  the  beasts,  nevertheless,  and  in  los- 
ing them  had  learned  one  of  their  dis- 
tinct peculiarities,  which  fact  was  suffi- 
cient compensation  for  our  first,  but 
never  to  be  forgotten,  hunt  for  wild 
pigs. 

The  peccary,  as  already  stated,  is  a 
ferocious  little  beast,  never  hesitating, 
when  in  numbers,  to  attack  other  animals. 
The  coyote  leaves  them  alone  if  numer- 
ous, and  even  the  mountain  lion  passes 
them  to  look  for  other  game.  Their 
tusks  are  deadly  weapons,  and  they  click 
like  so  many  hammers  when  the  creature 
is  angry.  If  any  ambitious  Nimrod  wants 
a  hunt  after  the  most  peculiar  game  extant 


128  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

in  the  United  States  and  Mexico  he 
ought  to  take  a  peccary  chase  in  Central 
Sonora. 

The  country  around  Guaymas  is  ex- 
tremely fertile,  and  in  no  part  of  the 
American  continent  is  there  a  richer 
country  than  lies  along  the  eastern  and 
northern  portion  of  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. Sonora  and  Sinaloa  are  con- 
ceded to  be  the  richest  States  in  Mex- 
ico, and  just  as  Mexico  has  been  the 
most  backward  country  of  North  Amer- 
ica, so  these  two  States  are  the  least  ad- 
vanced portion  of  Mexico.  This  condi- 
tion of  affairs  is  due  almost  wholly  to  the 
same  cause  that  has  retarded  the  growth 
of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  namely,  the 
raids  of  hostile  Indian  tribes.  These  two 
States  have  not  only  been  a  favorite 
hunting    and    scalping    ground    for    the 


FISHING  AND   HUNTING.  129 

Apaches,  but  within  their  own  borders 
have  been  superior  and  warlike  races  to 
contend  with  in  the  Yaqui  and  Mayo 
Indians.  The  last  war  of  the  Yaquis 
with  the  Mexican  Government  lasted  over 
twelve  years,  but  since  its  close  a  num- 
ber of  years  ago  the  Indians  are  settling 
in  the  towns  and  villages,  where  they  are 
the  most  industrious  portion  of  the  work- 
ing population.  With  the  disappearance 
of  this  disturbing  element  the  most  im- 
portant problem  regarding  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  garden  of  the 
Pacific  appears  to  have  been  solved. 
Every  grade  of  climate  can  be  found 
here,  from  the  tropical  seacoast  to  the 
temperate  great  plateaus,  a  short  distance 
inland.  The  country  has  a  rich,  well- 
watered  soil ;  there  are  vast,  well-wooded 
mountain  ranges,  where  all  kinds  of  game 


I30  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

are  found  in  abundance  ;  the  rivers  and 
bays  are  filled  with  every  variety  of  fish, 
and  two  or  more  crops  of  fruits  or  staple 
articles  can  be  raised  yearly.  Such  a 
country  cannot  long  remain  unnoticed 
and  unsettled ;  for  when  railways  are 
constructed  through  it  the  attention  of 
outsiders  must  be  drawn  to  the  land. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CENTRAL   CHIHUAHUA FROM    THE   CITY   OF 

CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD    TO    THE    GREAT 
MEXICAN    MINING    BELT. 

"llfHILE  in  Guaymas  and  discussing 
■  •  a  practicable  route  into  the  heart  of 
the  Sierra  Madres,  I  was  told  by  the 
general  commanding  the  division  in  which 
Guaymas  was  situated,  and  strongly  ad- 
vised by  others  having  a  knowledge  of  the 
country,  not  to  attempt  an  entrance  into 
the  mountains  from  the  western  side,  but 
rather  from  the  high  plateaus,  of  which 
the    city    of   Chihuahua  was  the   central 

point.   There  were  many  excellent  reasons 
131 


132  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

given  for  this  advice.  The  Yaqui  Indians 
were  said  to  be  very  restless  at  that  time ; 
the  season  of  the  year  was  unfavorable, 
because  all  large  rivers,  like  the  Yaqui, 
Fuerte,  and  Mayo,  were  at  their  height ; 
again,  there  were  no  good  points  near  the 
mountains  for  outfitting  such  as  the  city 
of  Chihuahua  afforded.  All  these  rea- 
sons, together  with  the  advance  of  ex- 
ceedingly warm  weather,  made  me  con- 
clude to  retrace  my  steps  to  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Sierra  Madre  range.  So  we  again 
passed  over  the  Sonora  railway,  and  en- 
joyed those  charming  contrasts  of  the  sea 
of  flower-covered  plains  and  mountains 
during  the  two  days'  ride  that  took  us  to 
Benson.  Thence  we  returned  to  Deming, 
and  from  that  point  to  El  Paso,  whence 
the  Mexican  Central  Railway  takes  one 
in  a  night's  ride  about  two  hundred  and 


CENTRAL   CHIHUAHUA.  I33 

fifty   miles    southward,    to    the    city    of 
Chihuahua. 

This  is  a  place  of  about  thirty  thousand 
people,  and  is  the  most  important  city 
in  Northern  Mexico.  Like  all  towns  in 
Mexico,  but  little  of  it  can  be  seen  from 
the  railway,  only  the  tall  spires  of  its  fa- 
mous cathedral  being  visible  ;  but  the  fine 
church  alone  well  repays  the  tourist  for 
stopping  over  on  his  southern  flight. 
Beside  the  cathedral,  there  are  many 
other  features  of  interest  to  the  tourist 
having  sufficient  leisure,  and  the  town 
should  not  be  so  universally  slighted  as 
it  now  is.  It  is  the  outfitting  point  for 
all  parties  visiting  the  many  large  and  fa- 
mous mines  of  the  northern  portion  of  the 
Sierra  Madre  range.  The  journey  from 
the  city  to  the  mines  is  made  by  diligence 
for  the  first   hundred  miles,  to  the  low- 


134  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS 

lying  foothills  of  the  mountains,  and  then 
by  mule-back  for  one  hundred  or  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  to  the  heart  of 
the  great  range.  As  this  was  nearly  the 
route  we  wished  to  pursue,  the  first  two 
days  were  passed  in  outfitting  and  making 
necessary  arrangements.  When  we  were 
informed  that  the  diligence  left  Chihuahua 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  were 
convinced  that  the  Mexicans  were  by  no 
means  as  indolent  as  they  have  been 
reported,  especially  in  the,  matter  of  early 
rising,  or  they  would  not  start  out  a  stage 
at  such  an  early  hour.  The  conveyance 
must  of  necessity  be  seldom  patronized 
by  any  persons  except  the  natives  ;  and 
the  calling  of  passengers  at  that  time  for 
a  seventy-five  or  eighty  mile  drive  could 
only  be  accounted  for  by  a  morbid  desire 
of  the  people  to  be  up  before  the  early 


CENTRAL   CHIHUAHUA.  13S 

bird.  The  day  before  leaving  was  passed 
in  assorting  all  the  baggage  absolutely- 
needed  for  a  long  trip  by  mule-back,  and 
in  getting  together  such  necessary  pro- 
visions as  we  would  use. 

I  had  been  told  that  but  little  could  be 
purchased  after  leaving  the  town,  and 
then  only  at  three  or  four  times  the 
expense  of  buying  and  transporting  the 
same  from  Chihuahua.  So  despite  all 
our  efforts  to  cut  down  our  luggage  it 
had  quite  a  formidable  appearance,  and 
I  judged  that  my  pack  train  would  be  an 
imposing  affair,  even  if  the  daily  bill  of 
fare  was  not.  Our  traps  were  piled  up 
in  the  office  of  the  diligence,  and  orders 
were  given  to  call  us  quite  early,  that  we 
might  be  promptly  on  hand,  for  we  were 
assured  the  diliorence  would  wait  for  no 
man.     Quite   reluctantly  I    retired  early, 


136  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  left  the  pleasant  crowd  sitting  on  the 
piazza  that  surrounded  the  inner  court  of 
the  hotel.  As  the  noises  of  one  of  these 
primitive  Mexican  hotels  cease  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  begin  about 
two,  and  as  the  night  watchman  felt  it 
incumbent  to  open  my  door  every  tour 
he  made,  and  hold  his  lantern  in  my  face 
to  see  whether  I  was  having  a  good 
night's  rest,  there  was  little  cause  for 
alarm  lest  I  should  be  left.  Neverthe- 
less to  make  assurance  trebly  sure  I  was 
called  by  three  different  persons.  It  was 
evidently  a  great  event  to  have  passen- 
gers leave  by  the  diligence.  We  were 
soon  out  in  the  streets,  picking  our  way 
along  in  total  darkness,  trying  to  make 
the  requisite  number  of  twists  and  turns 
down  the  little  side  streets  to  the  office 
(for  this  Mexican  diligence  was  a  proud 


CENTRAL    CHIHUAHUA.  137 

affair,  and  would  not  stoop  to  drive  to 
the  hotel  for  passengers,  not  even  for 
extra  money).  The  rigid  rules  of  the 
corporation  had  to  be  enforced,  and 
were  above  all  price  ;  so  we  went  floun- 
dering around  in  utter  darkness  until  we 
were  waylaid  by  a  friendly  policeman 
with  a  lantern,  who  doubled  us  back  on 
our  tracks,  and  assisted  us  to  reach  the 
dark  door  of  the  diligence  office,  which, 
at  that  hour,  was  not  distinguishable  from 
any  other  door.  At  first  we  were  sure 
the  policeman  had  made  a  mistake,  for 
there  was  no  sign  of  life  about  the  place, 
and  it  was  full  time  for  departure. 

Soon,  however,  a  frowzy-headed  man 
with  a  candle  in  his  hand  opened  the 
door  and  bade  us  enter  ;  but  I  preferred 
walking  up  and  down  outside  in  the  cool 
morning  air,  and  had  a  good  half  hour's 


138  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

exercise  of  that  kind  before  the  coach 
came  lumbering  into  sight.  The  huge, 
old-fashioned  affair  had  the  queerest  look 
imaginable  ;  for,  hitched  to  it  in  groups 
of  four  each,  with  two  leaders,  were  the 
tiniest  mules  I  had  ever  seen.  With  the 
arrival  of  the  coach  and  ten  the  office  at 
once  burst  into  life.  I  stood  and  counted 
my  luggage  as  piece  after  piece  was 
thrown  on  behind,  and  felt  as  though  I 
was  monopolizing  the  highway,  for  my 
freight  towered  up  and  filled  the  boot. 
The  office  was  then  examined  to  see  that 
nothing  had  been  left ;  but,  alas !  that 
precaution  was  a  failure,  as  I  found  to 
my  vexation  at  the  end  of  the  first  day's 
drive.  It  was  broad  daylight  when  we 
finally  got  away  at  half-past  fiVe  in  the 
morning.  Walking  about  in  the  cool 
air  had  given  us  voracious  appetites,  and 


CENTRAL   CHIHUAHUA.  1 39 

as  we  clattered  by  the  humble  huts  of 
the  peons  and  saw  them  making  their 
simple  morning  meals,  we  regretted 
exceedingly  having  placed  any  faith  in 
the  punctuality  of  this  particular  diligence. 
As  we  drove  onward  throuofh  the  broad 
avenue  of  alamos  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town  the  fields  were  filled  with  the  early 
workmen,  who  rise  as  soon  as  it  is  light 
for  their  work,  and  rest  in  the  heat  of 
noonday.  In  this  part  of  the  country 
these  laborers  are  always  dressed  in 
white  that  looks  immaculate  in  the  dis- 
tance*, against  the  dark  background  of  the 
fields,  but  it  will  not  bear  close  inspec- 
tion. I  was  thus  able  to  prove  another 
virtue  of  the  Mexican  people,  or  at  least 
a  certain  portion  of  them,  and  this  too 
despite  the  fact  that  my  discovery  does 
not  accord  with  the  generally  accepted 


I40  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

American  opinion  of  Mexican  laborers. 
There  was  no  doubt  that  they  were  unusu- 
ally early  risers  to  their  work,  as  all  that 
morning  I  found  evidence  of  this  fact. 
We  drove  twenty  miles  before  breakfast, 
and  passed  people  going  Into  the  city 
who  had  come  as  great  a  distance.  As  I 
have  said,  these  same  people  take  their 
siesta  in  the  afternoon,  and  are  judged 
accordingly  by  others  who  do  not  get  up 
early  enough  to  know  what  they  have  done. 
Leaving  Chihuahua  and  bearing  west 
toward  the  Sierra  Madres,  one  finds  the 
road  even  crowded  with  Mexican  trans- 
portation, all  from  the  rich  silver  belt 
now  being  rapidly  developed,  chiefly  by 
American  wealth.  There  are  great  carts 
with  solid  wooden  wheels  of  the 
Nazarene  style,  the  patient  donkey  of 
the   same    period,  and   all   so    numerous 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  141 

that  one  would  think  there  was  an  exodus 
from  a  city  soon  to  be  put  under  siege. 
Almost  anything  that  grows  about  the 
home  of  a  Mexican  of  the  lower  order 
furnishes  an  excuse  for  him  to  take  it 
into  town  with  a  hope  of  selling  it. 
Until  we  were  fairly  out  of  the  suburbs 
our  party  were  the  only  occupants  of  the 
coach,  but  there  we  were  joined  by  a 
Mexican  gentleman,  the  son  of  a  wealthy 
mine  owner,  who  lived  back  in  the 
mountains.  He  was  on  his  way  to 
his  father's  mining  district,  and,  as  I 
had  met  him  and  talked  with  him 
before  leaving,  I  had  so  timed  my  de- 
parture as  to  be  with  him  for  at  least 
a  part  of  the  journey.  The  country 
directly  back  of  Chihuahua  reminded 
me  greatly  of  our  own  plains  by  the 
imperceptible   manner    in  which    it    rises 


142  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

toward  the  foothills  of  the  mountains, 
although  it  was  far  more  fertile  and 
well  watered,  as  the  numbers  of  rich 
ranches  along  the  way  testified.  At 
nine  o'clock  we  stopped  to  eat  breakfast 
and  change  mules.  Our  morning  meal 
consisted  of  a  concoction  dignified  by  the 
name  of  coffee,  with  tortillas  (the  peo- 
ple's bread — pancakes  of  coarsely  ground 
corn  and  water)  and  some  stale  eggs 
served  in  battered  tin  dishes  upon  a 
rough  wooden  box.  The  stage  station 
being  the  only  house  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  we  could  not  be  choosers.  I 
noticed,  however,  that  the  soil  was  of  the 
richest  kind  and  well  watered,  so  that 
anything  could  have  been  raised.  What 
a  paradise  could  be  made  by  energy  and 
industry  where  nature  has  already  done 
so  much. 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  I43 

At  noon  we  stopped  at  one  of  the 
numerous  simple  and  dreary  little  vil- 
lages with  which  the  country  is  studded. 
They  appear  far  more  desolate  than  the 
open,  bare  mesa  lands.  All  are  much 
alike,  each  having  one  or  two  streets  of 
adobe  houses,  and  a  church  of  forbidding 
aspect,  which  fronts  on  a  still  more  unin- 
viting looking  plaza,  about  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  feet  square,  and  set  with  whitewashed 
adobe  benches,  a  stripe  of  green  about 
the  latter  being  almost  the  only  thing  to 
remind  one  of  the  color  of  verdure.  The 
plaza  is  the  pleasure  ground  of  the  people, 
and  a  more  cheerless-looking  place  one 
could  not  imagine. 

In  investigating  some  of  the  resources 
of  this  country  I  ran  across  a  (to  me)  new 
and  interesting  way  of  measuring  wheat, 
and  other  products  of  the  soil.      I  found 


144  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

an  old  hunter  on  the  Yukon  River  of 
Alaska  who  measured  the  length  of 
grizzly  bears  by  the  fathom  ;  \  have  had 
a  Mexican  charge  me  for  a  saddle  by  the 
pound,  carefully  weighing  it  and  esti- 
mating the  resulting  cost ;  and  when  I 
tried  to  find  how  much  an  exceptionally 
fine  field  of  wheat  yielded  to  the  acre,  the 
reply  was  equally  surprising.  The  owner, 
as  he  boasted  of  the  field,  knew  nothing 
of  so  many  bushels  to  the  acre  (or  to  the 
hectare,  which  is  their  usual  standard  of 
measurement),  nor  even  of  any  ratio  of 
pounds  or  kilograms  to  a  known  area ; 
but  he  loudly  bragged  that  he  raised  one 
hundred  for  one,  while  only  a  few  of  his 
neighbors  could  claim  as  high  as  fifty  for 
one,  forty  for  one  being  the  average  for  the 
whole  valley.  Now  one  hundred  for  one 
meant  that  he  got  one  hundred  grains  for 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  145 

every  grain  he  planted,  one  hundred  bush- 
els for  every  bushel  put  in  as  seed.  If  he 
had  planted  a  bushel  on  an  acre  of  ground 
and  got  one  hundred  bushels  in  return  it 
would  be  considered  an  enormous  yield, 
and  even  a  Western  farmer  would  dance 
with  delight  at  such  a  result  ;  but  if  he 
had  planted  a  bushel  on  ten  acres  of 
ground,  and  got  the  same  hundred  bush- 
els as  before,  the  Mexican  farmer  would 
be  as  happy  as  ever,  while  the  American 
farmer  would  begin  to  wonder  if  the  old 
farm  could  stand  a  third  mortgage  or 
not. 

Of  course  the  American  will  say  that 
about  a  certain  number  of  bushels  are 
sown  to  the  acre,  and  that  one  hundred 
for  one  or  fifty  for  one  really  gives  us  a 
fair  ratio  in  judging  of  the  fertility  of  the 
land.     But  I  would  answer  that  in  Mexico 


146  CAFE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

little  attention  is  paid  even  to  such  a 
ratio,  or  to  any  other  in  agriculture,  and 
only  the  most  careful  observation  or  in- 
quiry can  elicit  the  facts  necessary  for  a 
basis  of  proper  conjecture. 

A  Mexican  diligence  is  ornamented 
with  an  assistant  to  the  driver  in  the 
shape  of  a  nimble  young  fellow,  whose 
business  it  is  to  throw  stones  at  the  mules. 
He  occupies  the  front  seat  alongside  the 
driver,  and  whenever  the  mules  have  the 
appearance  of  commencing  to  walk — 
which  occurs  about  every  half  minute — 
he  jumps  nimbly  to  the  ground,  makes  a 
dash  ahead  for  the  leaders,  with  his  hands 
and  pockets  full  of  stones,  and  pelts  the 
unfortunate  beasts  well.  Of  course  they 
make  a  tremendous  burst  of  speed,  and 
he  grasps  the  straps  on  the  side  of  the 
coach  and  swings  himself  on  top  ;  then 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  I47 

the  leaders  look  around,  and,  seeino-  him 
Up  out  of  the  way,  they  slacken  down 
their  pace  again,  when  the  performance  is 
repeated.  Sometimes  the  mules  do  not 
wait  to  be  pelted,  but  when  they  see  their 
enemy  stoop  down  to  gather  the  missiles 
they  gallop  wildly  ahead,  leaving  the 
road  runner  to  make  the  best  time  he  can 
to  catch  up  ;  which  having  done,  he  takes 
his  revenge  on  the  mules  from  above  at 
his  leisure. 

If  there  is  one  thinor  in  which  the 
Mexicans  can  outdo  us  more  than  another 
it  is  in  stage  or  diligence  driving, 
and  this  too  with  animals  that  will  not 
compare  with  ours  in  size  or  strength, 
although,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  prob- 
ably more  enduring.  They  generally 
make  up  in  numbers  what  they  lack  in 
strength,  for  they  hitch  them  in  troops 


148  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  droves,  so  to  speak.  When  we  first 
started  we  had  two  groups  of  four  and 
two  leaders ;  then  we  changed  to  four 
abreast  and  two  wheelers  ;  then,  as  the 
country  grew  a  little  rougher,  they  hitched 
two  leaders  to  the  six,  making  eight  alto- 
gether. Now,  again,  we  dropped  -to  six 
mules  in  pairs,  as  we  see  them  at  home. 
As  the  last  stretch  was  a  tough  one,  we 
again  had  ten  mules  in  sets  of  fours  with 
two  wheelers.  This  over  a  very  rough 
mountain  road.  Here  was  versatility  in 
mule  driving  that  I  never  expected  to  see 
among  a  people  that  are  generally  re- 
ported by  most  American  writers  to  be  of 
a  decidedly  non-versatile  character. 

When  the  Mexican  mules  are  through 
staging  they  "  skirmish "  for  a  living, 
grazing  off  such  grass  as  can  be  had,  or 
in  lieu   thereof  browsing  on  cottonwood 


CHIHUAHUA     WESTWARD:  149 

and  willow  bush,  not  even  disdaining  a 
corner  of  a  corral  or  a  wagon  tongue  or 
two  if  times  are  going  a  little  hard  with 

them.     Late  in  the  afternoon  we  realized 

• 

that  we  were  entering  the  foothills  of  the 
mountains,  for  the  road  wound  through 
many  picturesque  little  ravines  and 
ascended  the  rocky  beds  of  the  small 
creeks,  often  taking  to  the  'middle  of  the 
stream  when  the  cafion  was  very  narrow 
or  thickly  strewn  with  bowlders.  It  was 
quite  a  common  occurrence  for  the  stage 
to  be  overturned  on  the  road — if  road 
it  could  be  called — and  the  most  decided 
talent  in  mule  driving  was  necessary  to 
guide  the  groups  of  little  animals  safely 
between  the  mossy  rocks.  Toward  even- 
ing the  walls  of  the  long  cafion,  with  its 
broken  craigs  and  fantastic  turrets,  almost 
met     overhead,  so   narrow    was   it ;    but 


150  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

after  a  few  turns  and  twists  it  widened, 
and  after  rounding  the  peak  of  a  high 
mountain,  entered  another  canon,  where, 
strung  out  its  whole  length,  was  the  town 
of  Cusihuiriachic.  I  do  not  intend  to 
throw  the  name  of  this  Mexican  town 
at  my  readers  without  giving  a  plan, 
section,  and  elevation  of  it  as  a  key 
to  the  riddle.  We  were  now  in  the 
land  of  the  Tarahumari  Indians  of  West 
Central  Chihuahua,  this  long-winded  name 
applying  to  them  just  as  equivalent  In- 
dian names  are  found  in  Maine  and  a  few 
other  places  in  the  Union.  This  large 
Indian  tribe,  probably  numbering  from 
15,000  to  18,000  (the  most  authentic  es- 
timate I  can  get  places  them  at  16,000, 
although  I  have  heard  them  estimated  at 
30,000  in  strength),  was  once  scattered 
over  a  considerable  territory,   and  their 


5      . 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  153 

names  are  still  given  to  most  of  the  places 
in  the  country  they  occupied  before  the 
advent  of  Europeans. 

Wherever  there  is  water  (so  I  was 
told  by  an  old  resident  among  these 
strange  and  little  known  people,  Don 
Enrique  Muller)  the  name  of  the  camp 
or  town  alongside  ended  in  chic,  as 
in  the  example  I  have  given  above,  as 
also  in  Bibichic,  Carichic,  Baquiriachic, 
and  a  few  others  I  could  mention — "all 
wool  and  a  yard  wide."  The  rest  of  the 
word  Cusihuiriachic,  still  long  enough  for 
^\^  or  six  more  names,  means,  says  my 
authority,  "the  place  of  the  standing 
post."  When  they  ruled  their  own  coun- 
try many  years  ago  the  principal  means 
of  punishment  employed  was  the  upright 
post,  to  which  the  offenders  were  tied  and 
treated  to  a  Delaware  dissertation.     Such 


154  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

is  the  origin  of  the  big  name  of  the  little 
Mexican  town  of  Cusihuiriachic,  situated 
about  halfway  between  the  city  of  Chi- 
huahua and  the  great  mining  belt  of  the 
Sierra  Madres,  west  and  southwest  of  the 
city,  and  to  which  it  is  a  secondary  dis- 
tributing point.  The  diligence  ride  is 
made  to  it  in  one  day,  a  little  over  seventy- 
five  miles.  The  place  claims  five  thousand 
people,  and  there  is  but  one  street  up  the 
narrow  gulch,  which,  however,  is  long 
enough  to  justify  its  name.  It  is  wholly  a 
mining  town,  and  has  some  important 
quartz  mills  strung  out  along  the  little 
stream  through  its  principal  and  only 
street.  When  we  reached  our  destination 
for  the  night  we  found  a  square  adobe 
inclosure,  with  an  enormous  gateway, 
through  which  the  stage  rattled  and  then 
stopped   In  a  small  court  for  us  to  dis- 


CHIHUAHUA     WESTWARD.  I55 

mount.  From  there  we  passed  through 
another  large  gate  into  a  similar  court, 
filled  with  a  variecrated  assortment  of 
mules,  and  after  dodging  among  them,  to 
cross  to  the  opposite  side,  we  climbed 
three  or  four  steps,  and  entered  the  most 
primitive  hotel  any  civilized  man's  eyes 
ever  rested  on. 

The  patio  or  interior  plaza  of  the 
hotel  was,  upon  our  arrival,  being  used  as 
a  cockpit,  and  one  or  two  hundred  people 
were  jammed  therein.  Beside  the  Mexi- 
cans, there  was  one  immense,  brawny 
Chinaman.  In  the  middle  of  the  pit  lay 
two  dead  cocks ;  one  belonged  to  the 
Chinaman,  and  the  other  to  some  member 
of  the  Mexican  aristocracy  of  the  town. 
An  adverse  decision  had  just  been  given 
regarding  the  victory  of  the  Chinaman's 
cock,  and  he  was  in  the  act  of  rolling  up 


156  CAVE   A^ND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

his  sleeves  to  pitch  into  the  crowd  and 
vindicate  the  prowess  of  his  fowl ;  for- 
tunately our  timely  arrival  prevented  any 
further  strife  by  diverting  attention  to  us, 
while  the  host  was  dragged  from  tlie  midst 
of  the  fray  to  hunt  up  a  key  to  unlock 
one  of  the  narrow  pens — called  rooms — 
that  overlooked  the  mule  corral.  Here, 
on  a  dirty  brick  floor,  my  bedding  was 
spread,  and  I  slept  to  a  chorus  of  squeal- 
ing mules,  which  came  in  through  the 
grated,  wooden-shuttered  window.  And 
right  here  I  may  say  that  I  know  of  no 
better  opening  for  Americans  of  small 
means  than  starting  and  keeping  hotels  in 
Mexican  towns,  where  decent  accommo- 
dations of  the  kind  are  wanting,  and 
where  a  great  many  Americans,  as  well 
as  English  and  other  foreigners,  pass 
through.     I    could    mention    fifty    such 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  157 

towns  beside  the  example  given.  In  the 
town  referred  to  we  were  crowded,  four 
and  six  together,  into  those  small  pens — 
all  travelers  passing  backward  and  for- 
ward on  business  connected  with  mining 
interests  or  similar  industries.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  universal  custom  of  this  portion 
of  the  country  to  get  up  at  three  o'clock 
to  take  the  diligence,  no  matter  how  long 
or  short  the  drive  was  to  be.  We  were 
going  only  forty  miles  farther  the  next 
day  to  Carichic  ;  the  diligence  returned 
nearly  eighty  miles  to  Chihuahua,  and 
another  stage  line  branched  off  for  Guer- 
rero, to  the  northwest  ;  but  it  appeared 
necessary  that  passengers  should  rise  at 
the  same  hour  in  order  that  all  the  coaches 
might  get  away  at  the  same  time. 

The    Carichic     line    is    quite     unfre- 
quented, and  only  an  ordinary  wagon  is 


I $8  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

used  as  a  stage  for  the  few  Mexicans  who 
go  that  way ;  but  in  honor  of  my 
party  the  large  diligence  was  sent  that 
day  to  carry  us  and  all  our  luggage. 
With  the  first  streak  of  dawn  we  were 
threading  our  way  backward  and  forward 
across  the  little  stream  that  runs  through 
the  town,  past  sleeping  pigs,  geese, 
chickens,  dogs,  burros,  and  Mexicans — 
an  almost  indiscriminate  mass  strung 
along  the  roadside.  This  road  led  past 
the  big  quartz  mill,  grinding  away  day 
and  night,  and  by  it  we  climbed  up  and 
out  of  the  narrow  canon  till  the  mesa 
and  the  hills  were  reached.  Afterward 
the  drive  was  through  beautiful  park-like 
places,  with  groves  of  oak  and  pine,  the 
road  winding  up  and  down  the  mountain 
side,  until,  early  in  the  afternoon,  we 
reached  Carichic.     On  the  road  between 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  I59 

Cusihuiriachic  and  Carlchic  we  came  to 
an  adobe  building,  that  departed  in  a 
very  picturesque  way  from  the  everlasting 


MEXICAN   ADOBE   HOUSE   FORTIFIED    AGAINST   APACHE   RAIDS. 


mud  box  style  of  architecture  so  common 
to  this  country,  and  for  which  departure 
we  had  to  thank  the  Apaches.  Not  that 
they  built  it,  for  an  Apache  never  built 
anything  except  under  compulsion,  and 
at  that  time  compulsion  of  these  Indians 
was  about  the  scarcest  thing  in  Mexico  ; 
but,  rather,  they  compelled  the  Mexicans 


i6o  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

to  do  it,  that  is,  to  erect  corner  towers  at 
the  four  corners  of  the  mud  box,  and  con- 
vert it  into  a  building  of  defense.  In  the 
picturesque  mountain  scenery  it  looked 
at  a  short  distance  away  like  an  old 
castle,  and  only  a  nearer  inspection  dis- 
pelled the  illusion. 

While  at  Cusihuiriachic  we  had  looked 
with  some  contempt  on  the  primitive 
accommodations  of  its  forlorn  and  di- 
lapidated hotel,  and  had  rather  scouted 
the  idea  of  its  being  possible  to  find 
a  worse  place  or  greater  disregard  for 
the  common  necessities  of  life  in  any 
habitable  town.  The  little  cell-like  room, 
with  its  wooden  bench,  tin  wash  basin, 
and  bare  brick  floor  on  which  to  stow 
one's  bedding,  seemed  to  be  the  ex- 
treme of  simplicity ;  therefore  we  be- 
lieved that  Carichic  could  hardly  do  less 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  l6l 

for  us.  But  as  everything  is  relative  in 
this  world,  I  was  soon  to  look  back  to  the 
despised  hotel  as  the  last  taste  of  civili- 
zation, and  to  appreciate  it  accordingly. 
On  reaching  Carichic,  a  town  of  six  or 
seven  hundred  people,  we  were  told  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  a  lodging  house  for 
us,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  us  to 
camp  in  the  streets  or  some  field,  unless 
our  Mexican  friend  could  induce  the  vil- 
lage priest  to  allow  us  the  use  of  a  large 
empty  room  in  one  corner  of  the  big 
building  he  occupied.  The  loaning  or 
renting  of  a  large  empty  room  does  not 
seem  to  be  an  act  of  great  hospitality, 
nevertheless  it  was  so  regarded.  The 
Mexican  gentleman,  when  passing  back- 
ward and  forward  over  the  trail  between 
his  father's  mines  and  Chihuahua,  always 
made  his  headquarters  with  the  priest  or 


l62  CAVE  AND    CUFF  DWELLERS. 

cura,  who  was  a  great  friend  of  his  family  ; 
but  everything  and  everybody  from  the 
United  States  he  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion and  distrust.  Therefore,  consider- 
ing the  circumstances,  his  readiness  to 
allow  us  under  his  roof  could  only  be 
considered  as  a  marked  hospitality,  or  as 
evidence  of  a  disposition  to  oblige  our 
mutual  Mexican  friend.  Perhaps  he  was 
animated  by  a  keen  sense  of  duty,  and 
found  this  a  fitting  opportunity  to  mortify 
the  spirit.  But,  whatever  his  motive,  we 
were  given  the  use  of  the  room.  So  the 
stage  left  us  and  our  worldly  possessions 
there,  for  at  Carlchic  all  roads  ended,  and, 
as  soon  as  I  could  make  my  arrangements 
with  a  native  packer  for  his  pack  train  of 
mules,  we  were  to  take  one  of  the  narrow 
Indian  trails  leading  back  into  the  heart 
of  the  Sierra  Madres. 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  163 

The  priest's  house  was  by  far  the  most 
important  in  the  village,  being  built 
around  a  large  interior  court,  with  all  the 
rooms  facing  on  this  court,  except  the 
one  given  for  our  use.  At  the  entrance 
to  this  interior  court  was  a  large  gate, 
which  could  be  barricaded  in  case  of 
danger  or  an  Indian  uprising.  On  one 
of  the  outside  corners  of  the  structure 
was  a  sort  of  storeroom,  the  door  open- 
ing on  the  street,  and  next  to  this  store- 
room— which  contained  a  few  old  bottles 
and  pieces  of  leather  —  was  the  room 
assigned  to  us.  At  one  end  of  our  room 
was  a  small  fireplace,  and  along  the  rude 
adobe  wall  was  a  wooden  bench,  and  near 
it  a  table.  One  window,  with  wooden 
bars,  and  the  door,  were  the  only  open- 
ings. The  floor  was  the  common  one  of 
earth.     As  there  was  not  a  place  in   the 


1 64  CAF£  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

town  where  food  could  be  bought,  it  was 
necessary  to  open  our  boxes  before  our 
dinner  could  be  prepared.  Wood  and 
water  were  soon  brought,  a  fire  started 
in  the  fireplace,  and  our  simple  meal 
could  have  been  ready  in  fifteen  minutes 
— and  would. have  been  anywhere  except 
under  the  auspices  of  our  Mexican  cook. 
We  tried  to  secure  chickens  and  eggs — 
staple  articles  even  on  the  frontier  of 
Mexico — but  were  told  that  time  would 
be  required  to  get  them,  and  that  the 
next  day  would  be  the  earliest  moment 
at  which  they  could  be  procured.  Tor- 
tillas, however,  were  forthcoming,  and 
these,  with  bacon,  hard  bread,  cheese, 
and  tea,  made  an  excellent  meal.  Dio- 
nisio,  or  Dionysius  in  English,  my  cook, 
had  been  highly  recommended  to  me  at 
Chihuahua,   and  had  been  brought  with 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  165 

me  on  that  account,  as  I  had  been  influ- 
enced by  glowing  descriptions  of  his  sup- 
posed good  qualities.  Since  the  morn- 
ing of  our  start  from  Chihuahua  he  had 
been  the  butt  and  laughingstock  of  even 
the  slowest  of  the  Mexicans,  who  had 
heaped  all  sorts  of  derisive  epithets  on 
him  for  his  general  stupidity.  My  only 
hope  was  that  he  would  blossom  out  as  a 
good  cook  when  he  had  an  opportunity  ; 
but  here  I  was  doomed  to  receive  the  full 
shock  of  his  utter  incapacity,  and  to 
realize  that  he  would  only  shine  resplen- 
dently  as  a  complete  failure  on  the  whole 
journey.  Finally  I  was  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  was  palmed  off  on  me 
simply  to  get  him  salaried  and  off  the 
the  hands  of  somebody  else.  Although 
we  arrived  at  Carichic  about  noon,  or 
shortly  after,  and  preparations  were  be- 


1 66  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

gun  at  once  for  our  simple  meal,  we 
were  compelled  to  eat  it  by  the  light  of  a 
tallow  candle.  It  was  evident  that,  if 
more  than  one  meal  a  day  was  to  be  had, 
Dionicio  would  require  an  assistant  to 
do  all  the  work. 

As  night  approached  the  good  padre 
tendered  us  the  use  of  his  parlor  floor  on 
which  to  spread  our  bedding.  This 
room  occupied  one  side  of  the  interior 
court.  It  was  a  long,  narrow  place  with- 
out windows,  and  lighted  only  through 
the  wooden  doorways,  of  which  there 
were  two.  In  one  end  of  the  room  was 
a  little  old  narrow  iron  bedstead  ;  at  the 
other  a  small,  black  haircloth  sofa,  and 
a  couple  of  chairs.  On  the  walls  were  a 
picture  of  the  Virgin  and  a  small  crucifix, 
while  in  another  part,  hung  up  beyond 
reach    of  the    tallest   man,  was  a   small, 


CHIHUAHUA     WESTWARD.  167 

a  very  small  mirror,  evidently  regarded 
as  a  profane  thing  and  not  to  be  used. 
In  the  center  of  the  room  was  a  small 
strip  of  faded  green  Brussels  carpet. 
The  whole  place  had  a  most  depressing 
air,  and  the  bare  earthen  room  outside 
was  beautiful  by  comparison,  for  in  the 
latter  we  had  the  sunshine,  and  could  see 
the  lovely  blue  sky,  and  all  around  the 
horizon,  the  rolling,  tree-covered  hills, 
with  the  distant  peaks  of  the  Sierra 
Madres  in  the  background.  Nature  had 
been  very  lavish  with  this  place,  and  at 
every  point  of  the  compass  it  was  pic- 
turesque and  beautiful  in  the  extreme. 
About  Carichic  the  soil  is  wonderfully 
fertile  and  the  grass  luxuriant.  A  lovely 
little  mountain  river  winds  by  on  one 
side  of  the  village.  The  people  are 
principally  the  civilized  Tarahumari    In- 


1 68  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

dians,  and  this  is  one  of  their  largest 
towns.  There  is,  however,  as  in  all  In- 
dian towns,  a  slight  sprinkling  of  Mexi- 
cans, and  to  that  portion  of  the  com- 
munity we  looked  for  mules  to  carry  us 
back  into  the  mountains. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  a  number  of 
Indians  were  started  out  to  look  up  the 
animals  ;  for  we  wished  to  get  away  the 
next  morning  if  possible.  When  night 
came  a  part  of  the  needed  complement 
had  not  been  found  ;  for  Mexican  mules 
are  always  turned  loose  to  hunt  their 
living,  and  they  often  wander  off  many 
miles,  and  it  sometimes  takes  days  to  find 
them.  All  night  long  the  Indians  were 
again  out  scouring  the  hills,  but  in  the 
morning  there  were  still  not  mules 
enough ;  so  nothing  could  be  done  but 
patiently  await  their  arrival.     The  next 


CHIHUAHUA     WESTWARD.  169 

morning  Francisco,  a  most  excellent 
packer,  by  taking  one  horse  to  carry  a 
few  light  bundles,  had  animals  enough  to 
make  a  start.  Horses  are  of  no  service 
whatever  in  these  mountains.  On  the 
steep,  rough,  dangerous  trails  the  small 
Mexican  mule  is  the  only  animal  that  can 
possibly  cling,  crawl,  and  climb  up  and 
down  the  dizzy  heights.  The  motley  and 
scraggy  assortment  of  beasts  led  up  for 
our  inspection  that  morning  gave  us  the 
uncomfortable  feeling  that  we  would 
never  reach  any  place  if  we  trusted  to 
them.  A  little  before  ten  o'clock  my 
train  of  fourteen  mules  was  started  ; 
and  we  were  told  we  must  ride  fast,  as 
the  trail  just  out  of  the  town  was  good, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  make  the  noon 
camp  at  a  certain  spot.  The  trail  we 
took  was  one  seldom  used,  except  by  the 


I70  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Indians,  and  a  few  Mexicans  who  held 
mining  property  in  that  portion  of  the 
mountains.  It  was,  therefore,  one  of  the 
roughest  and  steepest  in  that  region. 
Instead  of  seeking  any  sort  of  grade,  it 
struck  out  wherever  fancy  had  dictated  to 
the  original  Indian  travelers,  generally 
over  the  steepest  peaks  or  along  the  edge 
of  some  high  and  dizzy  precipice,  even 
when  this  course  was  wholly  unnecessary. 
Although  that  made  it  somewhat  labori- 
ous for  us,  as  well  as  our  animals,  it  gave 
us  unusually  fine  views  and  picturesque 
effects,  and  despite  the  roughness  of  the 
trail  we  rode  fifteen  miles  that  morning 
and  made  our  noon  camp  on  time. 
When  but  a  very  short  distance  out  of 
Carichic,  while  crossing  a  high  ridge,  I 
observed,  in  a  little  valley  below,  a  curi- 
ous looking  creature  skulking  along  half 


CHIHUAHUA    WESTWARD.  171 

hidden  from  view,  toward  the  entrance 
to  a  cave  in  a  huge  bowlder.  I  called  • 
the  attention  of  my  Mexican  companion 
to  him,  and  he  said  he  was  only  one  of 
the  wilder  Tarahumari  Indians,  who  lived 
in  this  manner,  and  that  I  would  see 
enough  of  them  before  I  finished  my 
journey.  This  was  my  first  introduction 
to  a  strange  people  hidden  away  in 
those  grand  old  mountains,  and  of  which 
the  world  has  known  comparatively  noth- 
ing. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CENTRAL     CHIHUAHUA IN     THE     LAND     OF 

THE    LIVING    CAVE    AND    CLIFF    DWELLERS 

THE    TARAHUMARI     INDIANS,  CIVILIZED 

AND    SAVAGE. 

T  PROPOSE  to  devote  the  greater  por- 
■■-  tion  of  this  chapter  to  a  consideration 
of  the  Tarahumari  Indians  of  Central  and 
Southwestern  Chihuahua,  a  tribe  of  abo- 
rigines that  I  have  occasionally  seen 
mentioned  in  works  and  articles  on  Mex- 
ico (especially  its  northern  part),  but  of 
which  I  can  find  no  detailed  account  any- 
where in  the  literature  I  possess  of  this 
region.     The  fact  of  my  having  been  in 

that  country  for  some  time,   seeing  and 
172 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  173 

investigating  some  of  their  most  curious 
habitations  and  customs,  coupled  with 
what  information  I  could  get  from  a  few 
hardy  Mexican  pioneers  in  the  fastnesses 
of  the  great  Sierra  Madre  range,  who 
corroborate  each  other,  constitutes  the 
basis  of  my  comments. 

Although  the  Tarahumari  tribe  of  In- 
dians are  not  at  all  well  known — for  I 
doubt  if  many  of  my  readers  have  ever 
heard  of  them — they  are,  nevertheless,  a 
very  numerous  people,  and  were  they  in 
the  United  States  or  Canada,  where  sta- 
tistics of  even  the  savages  are  much  better 
kept  than  in  Mexico,  they  would  have  an 
almost  world-wide  reputation.  On  ac- 
count of  this  utter  lack  of  statistics  it  is 
impossible  to  state  with  close  approxi- 
mation the  number  of  Tarahumari  Indi- 
ans in  this  part  of  the  country.     So  I  will 


174  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

have  to  rely  on  the  estimates  (really  broad 
guesses)  of  those  best  informed,  giving 
my  readers  the  benefit  of  my  own  re- 
searches as  a  check,  althoueh  not  claim- 
ing  they  will  make  a  very  good  one,  to 
the  wide  range  of  estimates  made  by 
others.  In  a  previous  chapter  I  spoke  of 
the  number  of  these  Indians,  but  really 
am  inclined,  from  all  I  could  learn  of 
them,  to  estimate  their  number  at  twenty 
thousand  or  thereabouts.  An  Indian 
tribe  of  twenty  thousand  people  in  our 
own  country  would  be  heard  of  often 
enough  in  press  and  public  to  become  a 
household  word  ;  but  the  isolation  of  the 
Tarahumari  Indians  from  the  beaten  lines 
of  travel,  and  the  little  interest  taken  in 
them  by  local  and  governmental  officials 
(especially  the  interest  which  would  make 
their   habitations,    habits,    and    customs 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  175 

known  to  the  world)  have  thrown  a  veil 
over  them  both  dark  and  mysterious. 
Some  tribes  of  no  greater  strength  in  the 
interior  of  Africa  are  better  known  to  us 
at  home  than  are  these  Tarahumaris  of 
the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains  of  Mexico. 
They  are  now  seldom  seen  in  the  city  of 
Chihuahua,  or  even  on  the  diligence  lines 
radiating  to  the  many  western  points 
which  draw  their  supplies  from  this 
town  ;  and  it  is  only  when  the  mule  trails 
to  the  deeply  hidden  mountain  mines  are 
taken  that  they  are  seen  at  all.  Still 
better,  if  one  cuts  loose  from  these  too, 
he  will  be  yet  more  likely  to  find  them  in 
all  their  rugged  primitiveness.  Those 
usually  seen  by  the  white  traveler  to  these 
parts  are  called  civilized,  and  live  in  log 
huts,  tilling  a  bit  of  mountain  slope,  not 
unlike  the  lower  classes  of  Mexico,  whom 


176  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

they  copy  in  their  departure  from  estab- 
h'shed  habits.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore, 
that  Httle  has  been  said  about  them  more 


A  CIVILIZED   TARAHUMARI    HOUSE, 

than  to  mention  occasionally  where  they 
once  lived  in  a  country  now  held  by  a 
higher  civilization. 

Even  the  word  /'  Chihuahua  "  itself  is  a 
Tarahumari  word,  and  was  applied  to 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Chihuahua  ; 
its  meaning  is  '*  the  place  where  our  best 
wares  were  made."  The  territory  lying 
between  the  line  of  the  Mexican  Central 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  I77 

Railway  (which  cuts  through  a  small  part 
of  their  ancient  country)  and  the  Sierra 
Madres  proper,  or  where  diligences 
cease  to  go  and  all  transportation  is  done 
on  mule-back  or  with  donkeys,  the  Tara- 
humarls  have  abandoned  to  invading 
civilization,  or  have  obeyed  its  mandates 
and  become  civilized  themselves.  They 
are  only  found  in  a  primitive  state  in  the 
Sierra  Madres,  with  the  far  greater  excess 
on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  wide  range. 
Beyond  the  Tarahumarls  to  the  west  are 
the  Mayo  and  Yaqui  tribes  of  Indians,  on 
the  rich  and  level  slopes  of  the  Mexican 
States  of  Sinaloa  and  Sonora ;  while  on 
the  north  they  come  in  contact  with  the 
omnipresent  and  widely  feared  Apache, 
whose  hand,  was  against  everyone  and 
everyone's  hand  against  him. 

Though  a  peaceful  tribe  of  Indians,  as 


178  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

far  as  their  relations  with  Mexico  have 
been  concerned,  they  nevertheless  were 
not  wanting  in  the  elements  that  made 
them  good  defenders  of  their  land  ;  and 
the  Apaches,  so  dreaded  by  others,  gave 
the  mountainous  country  of  the  Tarahu- 
maris  a  wide  berth  when  on  their  raids  in 
this  direction.  The  Tarahumaris,  equally 
armed,  which  they  seldom  were,  were 
more  than  a  match  for  these  Bedouins  of 
the  boundary  line  between  our  own  coun- 
try and  Mexico.  One  who  had  ever  seen 
a  group  of  the  wild  Tarahumaris  would 
not  credit  them  with  a  warlike  or  ag- 
gressive disposition,  or  even  with  much 
of  the  defensive  combativeness  that  is 
necessary  to  fight  for  one's  country.  Even 
the  semi-civilized  among  them  are  shy 
and  bashful  to  a  point  of  childishness  that 
I  have  never  seen  elsewhere  among  Indi- 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  179 

ans  or  other  savages  ;  and  I  have  lived 
among  nine-tenths  of  the  Indian  tribes  of 
the  United  States  and  a  great  number 
outside  of  our  domains.  Heretofore  the 
Eskimo  of  North  Hudson  Bay  I  deemed 
the  most  modest  of  savages,  but  they  are 
brigands  compared  with  the  Tarahumari 
natives.  If  they  have  the  least  intimation 
of  a  white  man's  approach,  he  stands  as 
little  show  of  seeing  them  as  if  they  were 
some  timid  animal  fleeing  for  life. 

A  Mexican  gentleman  who  owns  a  part 
interest  in  a  rich  silver  mine  in  the  great 
broken  Barrancas  leading  out  from  the 
Sierra  Madre  toward  the  Pacific  side,  or 
into  the  States  of  Sinaloa  and  Sonora 
(but  who  always  reached  his  mine  by  way 
of  Chihuahua),  told  me  that  he  had  several 
times  passed  over  the  mountain  trail  on 
mule-back,  when  with   a  pack  train,  and 


l8o  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

not  seen  a  single  Tarahumari,  although 
the  trip  occupied  a  number  of  days  in  their 
country,  and  took  him  where  he  should 
have  seen  two  or  three  hundred  if  they 
had  made  no  effort  to  escape  his  notice. 
The  country  thereabouts  is  well  wooded 
and  often  heavily  timbered,  and  the  timid 
native,  hearing  the  clang  of  the  mule 
shoes  on  the  rough,  rocky  trail,  will  at 
once  retire  to  the  seclusion  of  the  nearest 
thick  brush,  and  there  wait  until  the  in- 
truder is  out  of  sight. 

They  do  not  fly  like  a  flock  of  quails 
suddenly  surprised  by  the  hunter,  how- 
ever, for,  if  caught,  they  generally  stand 
and  stare  it  out  rather  than  seem  to  run 
from  the  white  man  while  directly  in  his 
presence ;  but  if  the  latter  is  vigilant  and 
keeps  his  eyes  wide  open,  he  will  often 
see  them  skulking  away  among  the  trees 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  l8l 

or  behind  the  rocks  as  he  is  approaching 
their  houses,  or  the  caves  or  cliff  dwell- 
ings wherein  they  abide.     Of  course,  as 


AN   INDIAN    HOMK    BKTWEEN    ROCK    PILLAR   AND   TREE. 


one  would  naturally  expect,  tlie  more 
savage  Tarahumari  natives,  or  those 
living  in  the  rocks,  cliffs,  and  caves,  or 
brush  jacals,  are  much  wilder  and  more 
timid  than  those  pretending  to  adopt  the 
forms   and   duties    of  civilization.     It    is 


1 82  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

this  peculiarity  that  has  made  it  so  hard 
to  understand  or  learn  anything  about 
them,  and  this  too  in  a  land  where  so 
little  interest  is  taken  in  gaining  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject. 

In  my  wanderings  through  this  portion 
of  the  Sierra  Madres  (and  right  here  I 
might  state  that  on  some  Mexican  maps 
this  portion  of  the  great  range  is  occasion- 
ally labeled  as  the  Sierra  de  Tarahumariy 
about  the  only  place  we  ran  across  the 
name)  I  was  more  fortunate  in  seeing  a 
large  number  of  them  engaged  in  more 
nearly  all  the  labors  and  duties  they  are 
known  to  follow  than  is  usually  the  case  : 
the  civilized  Tarahumari,  living,  in  rough 
stone  and  adobe  houses,  with  brush 
fences  around  his  cultivated  fields  ;  and 
the  most  savage  of  the  race,  acknowl- 
edging none   of    the     Mexican    laws    or 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  183 

customs,  and  living  in  caves  in  the  rocks 
or  under  the  huge  bowlders,  or  in  cliffs 
high  up  the  almost  perpendicular  faces 
of  the  rock,  where  they  probably  tend  a 
few  goats  and  plant  their  corn  on  steep 
slopes,  using  pointed  sticks  to  make  the 
holes  in  the  ground  into  which  the  grains 
are  deposited. 

In  appearance  the  Tarahumari  savage 
is,  I  think,  a  little  above  the  average 
heioht  of  our  own  Indians  in  the  South- 
west.  They  are  well  built,  and  very  mus- 
cular, while  the  skin  of  the  cave  and 
cliff  dweller  is  of  the  darkest  hue  of  any 
American  native  I  have  ever  seen,  being 
almost  a  mixture  of  the  Guinea  negro  with 
the  average  copper-colored  aborigine  that 
we  are  so  accustomed  to  see  in  the  west- 
ern parts  of  the  United  States.  The 
civilized    Tarahumaris  are  generally   no- 


184  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ticeably  lighter  in  hue.  The  Mayos  and 
Yaquis  on  the  west,  the  Apaches  to  the 
north,  the  Tepehuanes  to  the  south,  and 
the  Comanches  to  the  east  are  lighter  in 
their  complexions  than  the  cave-  and  cliff- 
dwelling  Tarahumaris,  although  they  live 
in  much  warmer  climates  than  the  latter. 
There  is  every  opportunity  to  inspect  the 
skin  of  the  savage  Tarahumari,  as  they 
wear  only  a  breechclout  and  a  pair  of 
rawhide  sandals ;  and  if  it  be  a  little 
chilly — as  it  always  is  at  evening,  at 
night  time,  and  morning  on  the  elevated 
plateau  land  or  mountainous  regions  of 
Mexico — they  may  add  a  serape  of  moun- 
tain goat's  wool  over  their  naked  shoul- 
ders. Their  faces  generally  wear  a  mild, 
pleasing  expression,  and  their  women  are 
not  bad-looking  for  savages,  although  the 
older  women  break  rapidly  in  appearance 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  185 

after  passing  thirty  to  thirty-five  years,  as 
nearly  as  I  could  judge  their  ages.  The 
savage  branch  of  the  Tarahumaris  is  of 
course  the  more  interesting  as  the  most 
nearly  representing  our  own  Indians  of 
fifty  to  one  hundred  years  ago,  or  before 
white  men  came  among  them.  The 
civilized  are  not  unlike  those  we  have 
cultivating  the  soil  in  a  rude  way  around 
the  western  agencies  ;  although  those  of 
Mexico  have  no  governmental  aid  such 
as  we  so  often  and  so  lavishly  pour  into 
the  laps  of  our  copper-colored  brethren 
of  the  North. 

The  savage  Tarahumari  lives  generally 
off  all  lines  of  communication,  shunning 
even  the  mountain  mule  trails  if  he  can. 
His  abode  is  a  cave  in  the  mountain  side 
or  under  the  curving  interior  of  some 
huge  bowlder  on  the  ground. 


1 86  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

The  Sierra  Madre  Mountains,  where 
they  live,  are  extremely  picturesque  in 
their  rock  formation,  giving  thousands  of 
shapes  I  have  never  see  elsewhere — 
battlements,  towers,  turrets,  bastions,  but- 
tresses and  flying  buttresses,  great  arches 
and  architraves,  while  everything  from  a 
camel  to  a  saddle  can  be  descried  in  the 
many  projecting  forms.  It  is  natural  that 
in  such  formation — a  curious  blending  of 
limestone  pierced  by  more  recent  up- 
heavals of  eruptive  rock — many  caves 
should  be  found,  and  also  that  the  huge, 
irregular,  granitic  and  gneissoid  bowlders, 
left  on  the  ground  by  the  dissolving  away 
of  the  softer  limestone,  should  often  lie 
so  that  their  concavities  could  be  taken 
advantage  of  by  these  earth-burrowing 
savages. 

The   first  cliff  dwellers   I  saw  were  on 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  187 

the  Bacochic  River,  the  first  day  out  on 
mule-back  from  Carichic.  These  cliff 
dwellers  had  taken  a  huge  cave  in  the 
limestone  rock,  some  seventy-five  feet 
above  the  water  and  almost  overhanging 
the  picturesque  stream.  They  had  walled 
up  its  outward  face  nearly  to  the  top, 
leaving  the  latter  for  ventilation  probably, 
as  rain  could  not  beat  in  over  the  crest 
of  the  butting  cliff.  It  had  but  one  door, 
closed  by  an  old  torn  goat  hide,  through 
which  the  inhabitants  had  to  crawl,  like 
the  Eskimo  into  their  snow  huts  or  igloos, 
rather  than  any  other  form  of  entrance  I 
can  liken  it  to.  The  only  person  we  saw 
was  a  **  wild  man  of  the  woods,"  who,  with 
a  bow  and  arrows  in  his  hand  and  the 
skin  of  a  wild  animal  around  his  loins  for 
a  breechclout,  was  skulking  along  the  big 
bowlders   near  the  foot  of  the  cliff.     A 


i8S  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

dozen  determined  men  inside  this  cliff 
dwelling  ought  to  have  kept  away  an 
army  corps  not  furnished  with  artillery, 
although  I  doubt  if  the  occupants  hold 
these  caves  on  account  of  their  defensive 
qualities,  but  rather  for  their  convenience 
as  places  of  habitation,  needing  but  little 
work  to  make  them  subserve  their  rude 
and  simple  wants.  My  Mexican  guide 
said  they  would  only  fly  if  we  visited 
them,  leaving  a  little  parched  corn,  a 
rough  metate  or  stone  for  grinding  it,  an 
unburned  olla  to  hold  their  water,  and 
some  skins,  and,  perchance,  worn-out 
native  blankets  for  bedding  ;  so  I  desisted 
from  such  a  useless  trip  as  getting  over 
to  their  eyrie  to  inspect  it. 

About  three  months  before  my  first 
expedition  into  Mexico,  I  saw  a  notice 
going  the  rounds  of  the  press  that  living 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  189 

cliff  dwellers  had  been  seen  in  the  San 
Mateo  Mountains  of  New  Mexico,  and 
that  as  soon  as  the  snow  melted  a 
mounted  party  would  be  organized  to 
pursue  and  capture  them ;  but  I  have 
heard  nothing  from  it,  beyond  the  little 
stir  created  at  the  time,  and  which  the 
finding  of  any  living  cliff  dwellers  any- 
where would  be  likely  to  create.  Yet 
here  are  people  of  that  description,  of 
whom  the  world  seems  to  have  heard 
nothing.  How  many  there  are  of  them, 
as  I  have  already  said,  it  seems  hard  to 
tell.  We  saw  at  least  ^-^^  to  six  hundred 
scattered  around  in  the  fastnesses  of  this 
grand  old  mountain  chain,  and  could 
probably  have  trebled  this  if  we  had  been 
looking  for  cave  and  cliff  dwellers  alone 
along  and  off  our  line  of  travel.  Let  us 
place   them   at   only  three   thousand   in 


190  CAVE  AND   CUFF  DWELLERS. 

strength,  and  we  would  have  enough  to 
write  a  huge  book  upon,  giving  as  start- 
ling developments  as  one  could  probably 
make  from  the  interior  of  some  wholly 
unknown  continent — in  fact  more  curi- 
ous ;  for  the  public  is  somewhat  prepared 
for  such  a  story  by  the  large  number  of 
old  deserted  cliff  dwellings  found  in  Ari- 
zona and  New  Mexico,  which  have  often 
been  assigned  to  a  people  older  than  the 
ruins  of  the  Toltec  or  Aztec  races.  That 
there  is  some  relation  between  these  old 
cliff  dwellers  and  the  new  ones  I  thir.l: 
more  than  likely ;  and  I  believe  thai 
most  writers  who  have  seen  both,  o: 
rather  the  ruins  of  the  former  and  mucli 
of  the  life  of  the  latter,  as  I  have,  would 
agree  with  me  in  this  view. 

It    is    pretty    clearly   settled    that    the 
Apaches  are  Athabascans,  and  came  from 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  191 

the  far  north  ;  and  it  seems  not  unlikely 
that  they  drove  southward  or  extermi- 
nated the  northern  cliff  dwellers,  leaving 
only  these  here  as  representatives,  al- 
though numerous  beyond  belief,  of  a  most 
curious  race  generally  supposed  to  be  ex- 
tinct. The  Pueblo  Indians,  of  the  same 
locality,  by  living  in  larger  communities 
and  stronger  abodes  were  better  able  to 
resist  these  Indian  Northmen,  and  conse- 
quently some  of  their  towns  still  exist ; 
but  the  old  cliff  dwellers,  like  the  new 
ones,  could  in  many  cases  be  cut  off  from 
water  by  a  persistent  and  aggressive 
enemy,  such  as  the  Apaches  must  have 
been  then,  when  just  fresh  from  their 
northern  excursion.  It  is  still  more  prob- 
able, however,  that  they  drove  them 
southward  until  the  retreating  cliff  dwell- 
ers became  so  powerful  by  being  massed 


192  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Upon  their  southern  brothers  that  they 
could  resist  further  aggression,  and  there- 
fore give  successful  battle  to  their  old 
foe,  as  we  know  they  have  been  able  to 
do  recently  when  the  Apaches  were  per- 
forming such  destructive  work  in  this  part 
of  the  country. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  in  archaeology 
that  a  badly  defeated  people,  driven  from 
their  country  by  a  superior  force  of  num- 
bers, and  occupying  a  new  and  less  desir- 
able tract,  will  generally  reproduce  their 
habitations,  implements  of  the  chase,  and 
all  other  things  which  they  may  be  called 
upon  to  construct  in  a  much  less  perfect 
manner  than  when  in  their  own  country  ; 
and  I  found  the  cave  and  cliff  dwellings 
of  the  wild  Tarahumaris  in  the  Sierra 
Madre  Mountains  to  be  in  general  less 
'  perfect  than  the  cliff  dwellings  far  to  the 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  193 

north,  as  those  near  Flagstaff,  Ariz., 
the  cave  and  cliff  dwellings  in  the  Mancos 
Cafion,  and  many  others  I  could  men- 
tion in  our  own  Southwest.  Whatever 
may  be  the  relation  between  the  dead 
and  departed  northern  cliff  dwellers  and 
their  southern  living  representatives,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  would  well  pay  some 
scientist  to  devote  a  few  years  to  their 
thorough  study,  as  Catlin  did  so  well 
among  the  Sioux,  Gushing  with  the 
Zunis,  and  many  others  I  could  mention. 
All  these  Tarahumaris,  whether  civ- 
iHzed  to  the  extent  of  agriculture,  living, 
in  houses,  and  having  the  other  arts  in  a 
crude  degree,  and  embracing  Christi- 
anity, or  whether  in  the  most  savage 
state,  naked  to  the  skin  except  rawhide 
sandals,  and  living  in  caves  or  cliffs,  while 
still  worshiping  the  sun,  and  hoping  for 


194  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  return  of  Montezuma  some  day,  all 
are  to  a  great  extent  independent  of  the 
Mexican  Government,  much  more  than 
are  any  of  the  peaceable  Indians  of  the 
United  States  from  our  own  government, 
unless  it  be  a  few  almost  unknown  tribes 
in  the  interior  of  Alaska.  If  a  Tara- 
humari  commits  a  crime  against,  or  does 
an  injury  to,  a  Mexican  or  foreigner,  the 
Mexican  Government  takes  notice  of  it 
and  tries  to  punish  the  offender;  but  be- 
tween themselves,  except  in  a  few  cases 
of  flagrant  murder,  they  can  conduct  all 
administration  of  justice,  as  well  as  other 
matters,  wholly  by  officers  of  their  own 
selection  and  by  their  own  codes  and  cus- 
toms. The  very  wild  ones — the  cliff  and 
cave  dwellers — know  nothing  of  Mexican 
affairs,  and  in  fact  fly  from  all  white 
people   like    so  many  quails   when    they 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  195 

approach.  The  more  civilized  elect  their 
own  chiefs  and  obey  their  executive  man- 
dates so  well,  as  a  general  thing,  that 
there  is  really  very  little  reason  for  the 
Mexicans  to  force  their  officials  upon 
them,  if  their  only  object  is  a  mainte- 
nance of  peace.  Still  the  half-wild  tribes 
of  some  parts  of  the  mountains  even  war 
against  each  other  without  asking  the 
Mexican  Government  yes  or  no,  and  con- 
clude their  own  treaties  as  a  result  of 
such  quarrels  on  their  own  basis.  I  was 
informed  by  Mr.  Alberto  Mendoza,  a 
perfect  master  of  both  Spanish  and  Eng- 
lish, and  an  interpreter  at  one  of  the  big 
Sierra  Madres  silver  mines,  where  there 
also  was  employed*  an  excellent  Tara- 
humari  interpreter,  that  such  a  war  as  I 
have  described  recently  broke  out  and 
was  carried  on  by  two  factions  in  adjoin- 


196  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ing  parts  of  the  mountains.  It  was -a 
very  strange  affair,  of  course,  but  I  doubt 
if  its  existence  was  even  known  in  any 
other  part  of  Mexico. 

Singularly  enough,  the  badge  of  office 
of  the  self-governing  tribes  is  a  scepter, 
if  an  ornamented  stick  held  in  the  hand 
can  be  called  a  scepter.  These  black 
savages  of  the  sierras  obey  it  more  im- 
plicitly, however,  than  if  it  were  a  loaded 
Gatling  gun  trained  on  them.  Whenever 
a  government  official  or  justice  seizes 
this  mace  of  the  Madre  Mountains,  and 
holds  it  aloft,  every  person  in  sight  is 
quelled  more  effectually  than  if  it  were  a 
stick  of  giant  powder  that  would  explode 
if  they  did  not  obey.  Its  name  among 
them,  translated,  is  "God's  Justice,"  and 
certainly  no  superstitious  people  ever 
obeyed  a  mandate  more  readily  and  com- 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  1 97 

pletely  than  do  they  this  mute  expression 
of  their  own  laws,  and  without  which 
they  would  often  be  lawless  under  the 
same  circumstances. 

An  almost  ludicrous  case  was  told  me 
of  a  foul  murder  having  been  committed 
by  the  wild  Tarahumaris  on  the  person 
of  a  civilized  one,  the  murderers  holding 
possession  of  the  body.  It  was  natural 
that  the  civilized  faction  should  want  the 
corpse  for  burial,  and  they  demanded  it, 
but  it  was  refused.  The  civilized  natives 
then  went  to  the  boundary  line  of  the 
two  factions,  hoping  to  get  the  chief  of 
the  wild  savages  to  assist  them.  Here 
they  found  some  four  or  five  hundred  of 
the  latter  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  with 
bows  and  arrows,  to  dispute  their  passage 
into  their  own  land.  The  chief  was 
absent  and  refused  to  come  to  the  assist- 


198  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ance  of  the  others,  although  demanded 
in  the  name  of  the  Mexican  law,  with 
corresponding  punishment.  The  civ- 
ilized natives  then  conceived  the  idea  of 
a  small  body  of  picked  men  going  in  a 
roundabout  way  to  compel  his  attend- 
ance, which  was  done,  although  he  still 
refused  to  exercise  his  authority  to  com- 
pel his  own  band  to  give  up  the  corpse 
of  the  dead  Tarahumari.  The  forcing 
of  the  wild  chief  into  the  dispute  was 
about  to  bring  on  a  collision  between  the 
two  factions,  when  one  of  the  civilized 
natives  wrenched  his  scepter  from  his 
hand,  waved  it  aloft,  and  demanded  of 
the  wild  ones  that  they  cease  all  hostile 
demonstrations  and  bring  in  the  body  of 
the  murdered  man,  all  of  which  they  did 
in  the  name  of  "  God's  Justice." 

Nearly   all    the   civilized  Tarahumaris 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  199 

are  Christianized,  while  the  wild  ones 
living  in  cliffs  and  caves  are — if  they  can 
be  called  anything — still  worshipers  of  the 
sun  and  believers  in  the  return  of  Monte- 
zuma;  so  this  "God's  Justice,"  as  repre- 
sented so  effectually  by  the  mace  or  scep- 
ter, cannot  mean  solely  the  Christian  God 
or  that  of  the  Tarahumaris,  for  in  either 
case  it  would  have  no  effect  on  the  other. 
There  can  be  only  one  conclusion  that  I 
can  see,  and  that  is  that  this  badge  of 
authority  is  as  old  as  the  Tarahumaris 
themselves,  or  at  least  antedates  the  con- 
version of  the  civilized  ones  by  the  old 
Jesuits,  or  the  conquering  of  the  country 
by  the  Spaniards  from  Europe.  The 
Mexicans  use  nothing  of  the  kind  except, 
probably,  in  their  state  and  federal  legis- 
latures, as  we  do  in  some  of  ours,  and  it 
is    not   at   all    likely  that  these    natives, 


200  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

especially  the  wild  ones,  would  have  bor- 
rowed it  from  so  distant  and  almost  never 
visited  a  source. 

The  civilized  Tarahumaris  have  their 
own  elections,  patterned  after  the  Mexi- 
cans in  a  crude  way,  while  the  wilder 
ones  have  their  chiefs,  but  whether  they 
are  elected  or  hereditary  I  was  not  able 
to  ascertain  ;  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  is 
the  former. 

The  wildest  known  of  the  Tarahumari 
cliff  and  cave  dwellers  are  probably  those 
of  the  Barranca  del  Cobre,  which  can  be 
seen  from  the  Grand  Barranca  of  the 
Urique,  as  one  skirts  its  dizzy  cliffs,  being 
in  fact  a  spur  of  the  Grand  Barranca  lead- 
ing out  to  the  east.  There  are  undoubt- 
edly many  other,  but  unknown,  places 
where  these  savages  dwell,  if  possible 
more  primitive  than  those  of  the  Barranca 


TARAHlfMART  INDIANS.  20t 

del  Cobre.  In  this  cafion  the  cliff  dwellers 
are  often  stark  naked,  except  for  a  pair  of 
guarraches,  or  rawhide  sandals,  these 
protecting  the  soles  of  the  feet  from  the 
flint-like  broken  rocks  of  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  without  which  even  their 
tough  hides  would  soon  be  disabled. 
Upon  the  approach  of  whites  they  fly  to 
their  birdlike  houses  in  the  precipitous 
cliffs  like  so  many  timid  animals  seeking 
their  burrows. 

The  next  nearest  grade  of  these  people 
goes  so  far  as  to  ornament  the  person 
with  breechclouts  after  the  latest  fashion 
set  by  Adam  and  Eve,  the  more  savage 
of  these  again  using  the  skins  of  wild 
animals  for  this  purpose,  while  the  better 
grade  manages  to  secure  some  dirty 
clothes  from  the  others  to  finish  out  this 
necessary  part  of  their  wardrobe.     When 


262  CAVE  AMD  CUFF  DWELLERS, 

it  is  reflected  that  the  winters  are  quite 
severe  on  the  higher  parts  of  these 
sierras,  the  snow  being  some  winters  two 
and  three  feet  deep,  it  is  quite  easy  to 
conceive  what  constitutional  toughness 
these  fellows  must  have  in  their  scanty 
attire. 

An  Eskimo  would  long  to  get  back  to 
the  Arctic  if  he  were  here,  so  he  could 
sit  on  an  iceberg  and  get  warm. 

On  the  great  mountain  trails  their  feats 
of  endurance  are  almost  of  a  marvelous 
character.  The  semi-civilized  are  often 
employed  as  couriers,  mail  carriers,  etc., 
and  in  all  cases  they  invariably  make  from 
three  to  five  times  the  distance  covered 
by  the  whites  in  the  same  time,  while 
there  is  no  known  domesticated  animal 
that  can  possibly  keep  pace  with  them  in 
the  mountains. 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  203 

It  takes  six  or  seven  hours  of  fairly 
continuous  climbing  to  make,  by  mule- 
back,  from  the  mine  in  a  deep  gulch  to 
the  "  cumbra,"  or  crest  of  the  Barranca 
del  Cobre,  by  a  most  difificult  mountain 
trail,  the  ascent  made  being  five  thousand 
to  six  thousand  feet.  It  takes  four  hours 
to  descend  in  the  same  way.  A  message 
was  sent  from  "  la  cumbra  "  by  a  Tara- 
humari  foot  runner  to  a  person  at  the 
mine  and  an  answer  received  in  an  hour 
and  twenty  minutes,  the  same  messenger 
carrying  the  letter  both  ways,  or  making 
the  round  trip. 

One  day  a  Tarahumari  carrier  passed  us 
just  after  we  had  gone  into  camp  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  bound  for 
the  same  point  we  expected  to  reach  in 
three  days'  hard  travel  by  mule-back.  I 
wanted  to  send  a  message  by  him  to  this 


204  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

place,  and  on  ascertaining  when  he  would 
reach  it  was,  as  my  hearers  will  easily 
infer,  somewhat  astonished  to  find  out 
that  he  expected  to  make  it  that  night, 
and  I  was  afterward  informed  that  he 
had  done  so. 

Not  a  great  many  years  ago  the  mail 
from  Chihuahua  to  Batopilas  was  carried 
by  a  courier  on  his  back,  who  made  the 
distance  over  the  Sierra  Madre  range,  a 
good  250  miles,  and  return,  or  a  total  of 
500  miles,  in  six  days.  Here  he  rested 
one  day  and  repeated  his  trip,  his  con- 
tract being  for  weekly  service.  Along- 
side of  this  the  best  records  ever  made  in 
the  many  six  days'  ''  go-as-you-please " 
contests  that  are  heard  of  in  the  great 
cities  of  the  United  States  sink  into 
almost  contemptible  insignificance.  I 
could  give  a  dozen  other  instances,  but 


TARAHUMARI  INDIANS.  205 

these  are  enouoh.  Of  course  these  run- 
ners make  many  ''  cut  offs "  from  the 
established  mule  trails  when  their  course 
is  along  them,  and  they  thus  save  dis- 
tance, but  making  all  such  allowance  their 
endurance  is  still  phenomenal. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THROUGH    THE    SIERRA    MADRES ON  MULE- 
BACK    WESTWARD    FROM    CARICHIC. 

A  S  our  next  month  was  passed  on 
^  ^  mule-back,  and  Mexican  mule-back 
at  that,  I  think  it  would  be  not  at  all  in- 
appropriate to  make  a  brief  dissertation 
on  this  kind  of  brute  for  the  necessary 
merits  and  demerits  of  the  journey. 

The  Mexican  mule  is  a  sort  of  a  cross 
between  a  mountain  goat  and  a  flying 
squirrel,  with  the  distinct  difference  that 
its  surplus  electricity  flows  off  from  the 
negative  pole  instead  of  the  positive,  as 
with  the  ofoat.      It  is  in   its  meanderinors 

on    the    mountain    trail    that    it    shines 

206 


TItROUGH   THE   SIERRA   MADRES.  207 

resplendent,  but  with  a  luster  wholly  its 
own,  that  can  be  no  more  compared  with 
any  other  than  can  the  flash  of  the 
diamond  be  compared  with  the  fire  of  the 
opal.  I  would  like  to  place  it  alongside 
of  the  American  mule  for  comparison  in 
the  "deadly  double  column  "  of  the  news- 
paper, but  the  Mexican  beast  would  kick 
out  the  intervening  rule  and  "pi"  the 
type  before  enough  was  up  to  form  an 
opinion.  On  the  mountain  trail  this  dis- 
tinct species  of  mule  w^as  never  known  to 
fall,  although  he  has  an  exasperating  and 
blood-curdling  way  of  stumbling  along 
over  it  that  would  raise  the  hair  of  a  bald- 
headed  man  on  end.  Many  a  time  I 
have  watched  the  mule  I  was  compelled 
to  ride  with  a  view  of  discovering  his 
methods  of  trying  to  frighten  me  to  death 
as  payment  for  past  injuries.     Oftentimes 


2o8  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  trail  would  lead  past  dizzy  heights  or 
cliffs,  where  one  could  look  sheer  down 
far  enough  to  be  dead  before  he  reached 
the  bottom  should  he  fall,  and  every  few 
feet  along  the  trail  of  not  over  a  foot  in 
width  it  would  tumble  in  a  foot  or  so  and 
again  take  up  the  original  inclination  of 
the  mountain,  or  about  that  of  the  lean- 
ing tower  of  Pisa.  Here  the  mule  would 
always  be  sure  to  stick  one  foot  over  and 
stumble  a  little  bit,  but  regain  its  equi- 
librium at  the  next  step,  having  clearly 
done  it  intentionally,  and  for  no  other 
purpose  than  pure  maliciousness.  One 
can  imagine  the  cool  Alpine  zephyr  that 
is  wafted  up  the  vertebrae  w^ith  sufificient 
force  to  blow  the  hair  straight  up  on  end. 
If  you  have  touched  the  beast  within  the 
last  three  or  four  days  with  the  whip,  or 
dug  into  its  sides  with  the  spurs  when  it 


THROUGH   THE   SIERRA    MADRES.  209 

was  absorbed  in  melancholy  reflections, 
it'll  be  sure  to  remember  it  when  you  are 
climbing  over  the  comb  of  a  cliff  from 
two  thousand  to  three  thousand  feet  high, 
and  at  the  least  movement  of  your  feet  or 
twitching  of  your  fingers  it  will  throw  its 
head  high  in  the  air,  like  a  hound  on  the 
scent,  and  go  stumbling  over  every  pebble 
and  blade  of  grass  on  the  dangerous  way, 
evidently  trying  to  make  you  regret  that 
you  had  ever  tried  to  punish  so  delicate  a 
creature.  At  any  other  time  you  can 
turn  double  somersaults  on  its  back,  or 
act  like  a  raving  maniac,  and  it  will  not 
increase  its  funereal  march  a  foot  a  day  as 
the  result  of  your  actions.  Whenever  a 
trail  leads  exceptionally  near  a  cliff,  before 
it  turns  on  the  reverse  grade  down  or  up 
hill,  the  Mexican  mule  never  fails  to  go 
within    an    inch   of  the  crest  and   let  his 


2  10  C.-l  r£   AND    CLIFF  DWFLLERS. 

leg  over  with  a  slight  quiver,  as  he  turns 
around. 

All  these  mountain  trails  are  full  of 
little  round,  hard  stones  about  the  size  of 
marbles,  and  even  larger  ones,  hidden 
underneath  a  carpeting  of  pine  needles. 
These  are  liable  to  make  a  mule  stumble 
if  two  feet  are  on  the  stones  at  once,  but 
this  is  very  seldom,  although  they  always 
go  sliding  over  them  on  the  steeper  trails. 
It  is  wonderful  how  these  round  rocks, 
hidden  under  the  pine  needles  on  the 
trail  or  off  it,  will  throw  a  human  being- 
prostrate  if  he  dismounts  a  few  minutes 
to  take  a  walk  on  a  slope  and  stretch  his 
stiffened  limbs.  Of  course  the  mule, 
under  headway,  is  liable  to  walk  over  him 
before  it  can  stop  or  the  person  pick  him- 
self up. 

There  is  another  pastime  in  which  the 


THROUGH    THE    SIERRA    MADRES.  211 

Mexican  mule  delights,  and  in  which  you 
won't.  It  likes  to  deviate  enough  to  go 
under  every  low-branched  tree  on  the 
trail,  and  so  universal  is  this  trait  of  char- 
acter that  the  trail  seems  to  lead  from 
one  low  tree  or  vine  to  another,  just  as 
the  mule  has  a  mind  to  make  it.  The 
dodging  of  limbs  and  branches  among 
the  pines,  cypresses,  and  oaks  in  the  high 
lands  was  not  so  bad,  but  down  in  the 
tieri^a  caliente  or  hot  lands,  where  brambly 
mesquite  and  thorny  vines  were  tearing 
crescents  out  of  your  clothes  until 
you  looked  like  a  group  of  Turkish 
ensigns,  it  was  much  more  monotonous. 
The  beast  I  was  compelled  to  ride  had 
one  ear  cut  off  near  the  head,  and  looked 
top-heavy  in  the  extreme.  As  a  mule's 
ears  make  up  a  goodly  portion  of  it,  as 
seen  in  elevation  from   the  saddle  on  its 


212  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

back,  I  was  always  frightened  when  he 
approached  a  cliff  on  the  unabridged  side, 
and  instinctively  leaned  in  to  counterpoise 
the  heavy  weight  that  I  thought  might 
drag  us  over  the  precipice.  He  was 
familiarly  known  by  the  party  as  "  Old 
Steamboat,"  ''  Old  Lumber  Yard,"  and 
other  names  indicating  these  character- 
istics ;  but  he  was  large  and  so  was  I,  and 
he  fell  to  my  lot.  When  I  first  saw  his 
abbreviated  auricular  appendage,  as  a 
member  of  the  "  Society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Mules,"  I  felt  incensed 
upon  hearing  that  it  had  been  lost  by  the 
cut  of  a  whip  in  the  hands  of  a  previous 
driver ;  but  before  we  had  been  ac- 
quainted a  week  I  had  transferred  all  my 
sympathy  from  the  mule  to  the  man, 
whoever  he  may  have  been.  On  the 
level  ground  this  mule  was   slower  than 


THROUGH    THE   SIERRA    MADRES.  213 

the  Mexican  cook,  who  took  fifteen 
minutes  to  wash  a  spoon  ;  but  on  a  peril- 
ous path  of  half  a  foot  in  width,  on  a 
dizzy  precipice,  the  way  he  could  box  the 
compass  with  the  lone  ear,  so  as  to  catch 
some  faint  sound  at  which  he  could  get 
frightened  at  this  inopportune  time,  made 
me  wish  I  could  cut  off  the  other  ear  at 
about  the  third  cervical  vertebra. 

About  half-past  one  on  the  first  day 
out  from  Carichic  we  stopped  for  our 
lunch  in  a  grove  of  beautiful  pines  in  the 
valley  of  the  Pasigochic,  on  the  banks  of 
a  little  stream  of  the  same  name.  As  I 
have  said,  we  had  ridden  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Carichic  and  were  all  very 
much  in  need  of  rest.  Just  before  lunch- 
ing we  passed  a  number  of  Tarahumari 
Indians  of  the  civilized  class,  working  in 
a  small  field  of  about  three  or  four  acres. 


214  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Even  in  this  small  space  there  were  a 
dozen  others  hard  at  work.  Their  dark, 
swarthy  bodies  were  almost  the  color  of 
the  rich  soil  in  which  they  toiled,  making 
their  white  breechclouts  and  white  straw 
hats,    the    only    things    they   wore,    look 


A   TARAHUMARI    MOUNTAIN    HOME. 

curious  enough  when  they  moved  about 
like  so  many  unpoetical  ghosts,  as  seen 
at  a  distance. 

We   were    now   well    into    the    Sierra 
Madre  range,  and  although  the   scenery 


ON  MULE- BACK  FROM   CARICHIC.         215 

was  so  far  about  the  equal  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies  or  Catskills,  there  was  not  much 
level  ground  for  cultivation,  and  this  was 
eagerly  seized  by  the  working  natives, 
not  only  to  raise  crops  for  their  own  use, 
but  to  have  some  to  sell ;  for  from  six  to 
seven  days'  travel  to  the  southwest  was 
the  richest  silver  district  in  the  world, 
where  all  kinds  of  produce  brought  fabu- 
lous prices  that  would  have  enriched  an 
American  farmer  in  one  season — flour 
forty  cents  a  pound  and  other  things  in 
proportion.  Indeed  one  of  the  best  dis- 
tinctions that  could  be  made  between  the 
wild  and  civilized  Tarahumaris  is  the  fact 
that  the  former  knows  nothing  of  money 
nor  makes  any  attempt  to  secure  it,  barter- 
ing directly  by  exchange  with  the  civilized 
native  for  those  things  he  wants  and  does 
not  make  ;  while  the  latter  makes  money 


2i6  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

his   medium  of  exchange,  and  seems  to 
thoroughly  appreciate  its  value. 

The  midday  lunch  "for  a  party  of  Mex- 
icans moving  through  the  mountains  is 
quite  long  by  comparison  with  American 
parties  under  like  circumstances.  It  was 
two  hours  before  we  got  away  again. 
There  are  probably  two  reasons  for  this, 
one  being  that  the  midday  is  generally 
warmer  with  them  than  with  us,  although 
this  did  not  apply  to  us  in  the  cool,  tim- 
bered regions  of  the  high  sierras  ;  while 
the  second  reason  is  clearly  found  in  the 
fact  that  they  seldom  feed  their  mules  on 
these  mountain  trips,  andjnust  give  them 
time  to  graze  a  fair-sized  meal  at  noon. 
The  Mexican  packs  and  unpacks  the 
mules  twice  a  day,  the  American  but 
once  ;  for  by  feeding  grain  he  can  keep 
going  until  they  want  to  camp,  making  it 


ON  MULE-BACK  FROM   CARICHIC.         217 

much  earlier  than  his  Mexican  brother, 
who,  starting  at  three  o'clock,  has  to  go 
until  six  or  seven  to  make  a  respectable 
afternoon's  march.  By  three  o'clock  the 
American  is  generally  in  camp,  having 
made  the  same  distance  and  having  done 
half  the  work.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
if  American  mules  would  do  as  well  here 
under  like  circumstances. 

After  leaving  the  pretty  and  pictur- 
esque Pasigochic,  a  high  hill  is  ascended, 
and  late  that  afternoon  we  passed  the 
highest  point  between  the  morning  and 
evening  camps,  eighteen  hundred  feet. 
On  the  high  hills  were  seen  the  beau- 
tiful madrofla  tree,  or  strawberry  tree, 
with  blood-red  bark,  and  bright  green 
and  yellow  leaves,  and  covered  with  white 
blossoms,  so  startling  a  mixture  of  colors 
that  it  would  hardly  be  believed  if  painted 


2l8  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  put  on  exhibition.  They  were  every- 
where, from  the  merest  bush  in  size  to 
trees  twenty  and  thirty  feet  in  height. 
In  form  they  are  not  unHke  a  spreading 
apple  tree,  with  strongly  contorted  and 
twisted  branches.  Then  there  were  many 
oaks  of  different  kinds,  the  encino  robles 
or  everlasting  oak,  the  white  oak,  and  the 
little  black  variety.  There  were  a  dozen 
kinds  I  knew  nothing  of  in  my  limited 
vocabulary  of  forest  trees.  The  pines 
were  beautiful,  and  in  many  places  forty 
to  fifty  merchantable  trees  to  the  acre, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  and  without  a  limb 
for  sixty  or  seventy  feet  from  the 
ground.  In  one  or  two  clusters  I  noticed 
groups  of  pines  like  those  an  old  lumber- 
man once  pointed  out  to  me  in  the  for- 
ests of  Oregon  as  good  mast  timber.  I 
have  seen  the  same  repeated  dozens  of 


ON  MULE-BACK  FROM   CARICHIC.        219 

times  on  the  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
range.  This  dense  mass  of  spar  and 
mast  timber,  as  I  shall  call  it,  is  nearly 
always  found  on  the  richest  soil  of  the 
mountain,  generally  in  the  narrow  little 
valleys  where  the  silt  from  the  sides  is 
swept  down  by  the  rains  until  the  soil  is 
many  feet  deep. 

The  great  coniferous  forest  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  Sierra  Madre  range 
of  Mexico  is  probably  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  world  (it  is  undoubtedly  the  larg- 
est virgin  forest  on  either  continent),  and 
when  its  resources  are  opened  by  well- 
constructed  wagon  roads,  or,  better  still, 
by  a  railway  system,  it  will  undoubtedly 
prove  an  enormous  source  of  revenue  to 
the  Mexican  States  of  Chihuahua  and 
Sonora,  and  to  no  little  extent  those  of 
Sinaloaand  Durango — a  source  nearly  as 


2  20  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

profitable  as  their  mineral  wealth,  and 
this  is  saying  a  great  deal,  for  these 
States  comprise  the  richest  silver  district 
in  the  world. 

That  evening  we  camped  in  the  valley 
of  the  Guigochic,  on  another  beautiful 
mountain  stream,  where  a  little  park  of 
an  acre  or  two  gave  our  mules  some 
sweet  alpine  grasses,  which  warranted  us 
in  believing  that  half  the  morning  would 
not  be  passed  in  chasing  over  the  hills  to 
find  stray  mules,  as  Is  so  often  the  case  in 
Mexico  when  these  beasts  are  turned  loose 
to  search  for  their  food.  We  were  all 
thoroughly  tired  with  our  first  day's  ride 
on  mule-back,  but  nevertheless  turned  in 
to  help  the  cook,  as  we  realized  that  we 
wanted  something  to  eat  that  night.  The 
tent  was  pitched  between  two  magnificent 
pines  of  enormous  size,  and  I  slept  to  the 


ON  MULE-BACK  FROM   CARICHIC.  221 

music  of  the  wind  in  their  branches.  We 
left  our  camp  by  the  light  of  the  camp 
fire  next  morning  and  started  over  the 
crest  of  one  of  the  steepest  mountains 
overlooking  our  camp.  Halfway  up  the 
steep  trail  we  passed  two  graves  of  stone 
heaps  surmounted  by  rough  wooden 
crosses.  At  this  spot  a  man  and  his  wife 
had  been  killed  by  the  Apaches  a  few 
years  ago.  These  same  Apaches  had 
penetrated  too  far  into  Tarahumari  land, 
and*  after  a  disastrous  encounter  with  the 
latter  were  fleeing  themselves,  when  they 
met  the  defenseless  Mexican  and  his  wife 
and  killed  them.  This  was  the  farthest 
point  west  where  a  white  person  had  been 
killed  by  Apache  Indians  in  this  part  of 
Chihuahua.  After  climbing  this  hill  of 
1500  or  1600  feet  our  trail  still  led  up- 
ward; the  mountains  growing  steeper  and 


222  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Steeper.  When  we  reached  the  top  of 
one  peak  we  would  immediately  begin 
the  zigzag  descent,  then  climb  up  another 
and  down  again.  Sometimes  the  trail 
wound  over  a  bald,  rocky  peak,  where 
steps  by  long  years  of  use  had  been  worn 
deep  in  the  soft  rock  ;  and  into  these  little 
places  the  mules  would  carefully  place 
their  feet,  there  really  being  no  other  foot- 
hold for  them.  Again  there  would  be  a 
chain  of  gigantic  stairs  leading  down 
some  steep  mountain  side,  where  one 
could  look  hundreds  of  feet,  and  see  tall 
trees  that  from  such  an  elevation  re- 
sembled small  shrubs.  The  nimble  and 
sure-footed  animals  would  place  all  four 
feet  together  and  jump  down  from  one 
step  to  another,  oftentimes  more  than 
their  own  height,  so  that  one  felt  sure  of 
being  sent  flying  over  the  cliff.      Again, 


ON  MULE-BACK  FROM   C A  RICH  I C.         223 

the  trail  would  be  over  the  loose,  rolling 
stones,  and  the  little  animals  would  fairly 
slide  down  these  dangerous  places.  By 
noon  we  reached  the  quaint  little  civi- 
lized pueblo  of  Tarahumari  Indians 
named  Naqueachic,  they  living  in  rude 
log  houses  instead  of  caves  or  cliff  dwell- 
ings. 

At  the  pueblo  of  Naqueachic  of  civi- 
lized Tarahumaris  I  found  a  curious 
method  of  cooking.  Over  the  fire  the 
food  was  boiling  in  two  different  dishes. 
One  contained  a  substance  that  looked 
like  a  compound  of  mucilage  and  brick 
dust.  The  mademoiselle  in  charge  would 
take  up  a  calabash  gourd  full,  holding  a 
pint  or  two,  and,  although  the  gourd  was 
held  mouth  up  all  the  time,  before  it  was 
three  feet  above  the  pot  it  was  completely 
emptied,  so  tenacious  and  stringy  was  the 


224  CAVE  AND    CLIFF-DWELLERS. 

substance,  like  the  white  of  a  soft  boiled 
egg.  This  was  repeated  every  five  or  ten 
seconds,  evidently  to  keep  it  from  burn- 
ing. It  is  made  from  the  soft,  pulpy 
leaves  or  stalks  of  the  nopal  cactus ;  and 
is  about  as  palatable  to  a  white  man  as 
gruel  and  sawdust  would  be.  The  other 
pot  contained  some  mixture  of  corn, 
beans,  and  probably  one  or  two  other 
more  savage  ingredients,  a  sort  of  Sierra 
Madre  succotash. 

In  one  corner  of  the  room — I  might 
say  the  house,  for  there  was  only  one 
room  in  the  house — was  a  rude  loom  for 
weaving  blankets,  which  they  make  from 
the  wool  of  their  mountain  sheep,  and 
which  under  all  the  circumstances  are 
quite  creditable.  The  ornamentation  is 
not  very  great,  and  yet  none  of  them 
lack   this   seemingly    necessary    part    of 


ON  MULE-BACK  FROM   CARICHIC.         225 

a  blanket.  These  blankets  are  usually  of 
a  dark  brown  color,  with  one  or  two  dark 
yellow  stripes  across  them  at  the  ends. 
Being  "  all  wool  and  a  yard  wide  "  they 
are  quite  warm,  much  warmer  than  some 
Mexican  woolen  blankets  that  I  bought 
at  Chihuahua,  which  seemed  better  calcu- 
lated to  keep  the  heat  out  on  the  cold 
nights  in  the  mountains  than  to  keep  it  in. 

The  civilized  Tarahumaris  are  quite 
cleanly  for  savages,  noticeably  more  so 
than  the  lower  order  of  Mexicans,  and 
yet  there  is  plenty  of  room,  great,  un- 
swept  back  counties  of  it,  for  improve- 
ment in  this  respect. 

After  leaving  the  interesting  little  vil- 
lage of  Naqueachic  we  at  once  started 
over  a  high  range  or  crest  some  twenty- 
nine  hundred  feet  above  our  level,  and 
from  the  top  could  look  down  in  a  beauti- 


226  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ful  valley  on  one  of  the  most  important 
Tarahiimari  villages  in  the  Sierra  Madres, 
the  town  of    Sisoguichic.      I  would  have 


OLD   TARATTUMARI    INDIAN. 


liked  to  camp  here  for  the  night,  but  as 
there  was  no  corn  for  the  mules  or  grass 
for  them  to  graze  on  we  were  compelled 
to  proceed. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SOUTHWESTERN    CHIHUAHUA AMONG     THE 

CAVE      AND      CLIFF      DWELLERS      IN     THE 
HEART    OF    THE     SIERRA     MADRE     RANGE. 

npHAT  night    our    camp    was    in    an 

-■■     immense  pine  forest  on  the  crest  of 

one    of   the    high    peaks,    and    here    we 

parted    with    our    Mexican    friend    Don 

Augustin    Becerra,     to    whom     we    had 

already  become  deeply  indebted,  and  who 

found   it    necessary   to  hasten  on  to  his 

father's  mines  at  Urique,  which  we  were 

to  make  more  leisurely. 

There  is  a  widely  dispersed  variety  of 

pitch  pine  in  these  mountains,  which  may 

be  said  to  be  the  candles  or  the  lanterns 
227 


228  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

of  the  natives  of  the  country.  The  night 
scenes  in  the  pitch-pine  States  of  the 
South  have  long  formed  themes  in  prose 
and  poetry,  but  those  States  are  in  the 
flat-land  coasts  of  our  country,  with  no 
scenery  to  give  any  of  the  strange,  weird 
effects  of  a  broken  land.  At  one  camp  I 
made  upon  a  high  potrero,  I  saw  such  a 
scene.  It  was  in  a  little  flat  place  in  the 
mountain,  where  the  grass  was  good  for 
the  mules,  but  where  the  water  was  far 
down  the  precipitous  ravine  or  box  canon 
that  opened  out  by  a  gorge  to  a  great 
barranca  as  deep  and  wide  as  the  Grand 
Canon  of  the  Colorado.  A  half-dozen 
men  at  a  time,  all  with  pitch-pine  torches, 
descended  after  water,  or  to  drive  the 
mules  to  and  from  water.  As  they  cut 
long  slivers  of  pine,  eight  to  ten  feet  in 
length,  that  blaze  for  two-thirds  to  three- 


SOUTHWESl^ERN   CHIHUAHUA.  229 

fourths  their  length,  the  strange  effect  on 
the  wild  scenery,  stretching  for  miles,  can 
be  more  easily  conceived  than  described. 
To  have  put  it  faithfully  on  canvas  would 
have  made  the  reputation  of  any  artist, 
and  the  equal  of  which  I  have  never  seen. 
Vereschagin's  "  My  Camp  in  the  Hima- 
layas "  seemed  almost  tame  by  comparison. 
The  great  wide  sombreros,  glittering 
with  silver — for  even  the  common  peons 
of  Mexico  have  more  costly  hats  than  the 
"  Four  Hundred  "  of  New  York — the 
bright  red  foliage  of  the  manzanillas  and 
the  madrono  trees,  rendered  doubly  lurid 
by  the  reflection  of  the  torches,  the  sharp 
rocks  of  the  cafion  in  battlemented  and 
castellated  confusion,  stretching  off  to  the 
mighty  barranca  five  thousand  to  six 
thousand  feet  deep,  really  made  up  a 
picture  that  not  one  painter  in  a  thousand 


230  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

could  have  done  justice  to,   and  not  one 
could  imitate. 

On  our  third  day  out  we  crossed  a 
most  picturesque  stream  called  the  Pa- 
nascos  River.  Near  the  crossing  were  a 
number  of  huge  irregular  bowlders  lying 
at  the  foot  of  a  sculptured  cliff.  Under 
those  that  formed  cave-like  recesses  were 
a  number  of  Tarahumari  cave  dwellers, 
looking  absolutely  comical  in  their  wide- 
brim  straw  hats  of  coarse  grass  and  their 
primitive  breechclouts.  Their  skins  were 
so  dark-colored  that  had  it  not  been  for 
this  white  clothing  at  the  two  termini  it 
would  have  been  hard  to  make  them  out 
in  the  dark,  deep  caverns  into  which  most 
of  them  fled  upon  our  approach. 

A  recently  occupied  cave  of  these 
strange  earth-burrowing  savages  could 
nearly   always   be   told  by  the  stains  of 


IN    THE   SIERRA    MADRE  RANGE.  233 

ascending  smoke  from  the  highest  point 
of  entrance  to  the  cave.  If  the  cave  has 
been  abandoned  for  any  length  of  time 
the  rain  soon  wipes  out  this  sure  sign  of 


HOME  OF   CAVE  DWELLERS. 


habitation.  We  passed  a  large  number 
of  caves  with  funnel-shaped  smoke  stains, 
leading  up  from  the  outside,  but  the 
silence  of  death  surrounded  them,  as  if 
human  life  had  never  been  within  a  mile 
of  the  place  ;  but  I  have  not  the  remotest 


234  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

doubt  that  there  were  a  dozen  people 
inside  of  each,  peeping  at  us  from  around 
the  dark  corners,  having  heard  our 
approach  and  fled  in  time  to  keep  well 
out  of  our  sight.  Nothing  is  noisier 
than  a  Mexican  mule  packer,  and  the 
mountains  are  always  resounding  with  his 
pious  shouting  to  his  lazy,  plodding 
animals  as  he  urges  them  on  ;  so  I  con- 
sidered it  very  lucky  indeed  that  we  saw 
as  many  of  the  living  cave  and  cliff 
dwellers  as  we  actually  did,  so  excessively 
shy  are  these  poor,  timid  creatures. 

One  of  our  Mexican  packers  tried  to 
buy  a  sheep  of  one  of  the  civilized  Tara- 
humarls  a  little  farther  on,  but  he  would 
not  part  with  one  for  any  money,  although 
apparently  having  plenty  to  spare.  Many 
of  the  pueblos  of  the  civilized  Tara- 
humarls  are  really  Isolated  communities, 


IN    THE   SIERRA   MADRE   RANGE.  235 

raising  all  they  need  for  food  from  the 
soil,  or  wool  for  clothing,  or  both  from 
animals  of  the  chase,  and  consequently 
seldom  buying  or  selling. 

That  same  day  we  passed  La  Sierra 
de  los  Ojitos.  It  is  a  high,  shaggy 
mountain,  covered  to  the  very  top  with  a 
dense  forest  of  pine,  and  indicates  where 
the  waters  divide  to  the  east  and  west. 
On  its  slope  that  we  faced,  its  rivulets 
poured  their  contents  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  while  from  the  opposite  slope 
they  go  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  rather 
'  its  great  Mexican  arm,  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. It  is  the  highest  point  of  the 
Sierra  Madres  that  we  encountered  on 
the  trail,  and  I  found  it  to  be  12,500 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  with  La 
Sierra  de  los  Ojitos  towering  some  2000 
to    3000    feet    higher    on    our    left.     I 


236  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS, 

camped  that  night  in  a  picturesque  box 
canon,  which  I  named  Carillo  Cajon  after 
the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Chihuahua, 
who  had  done  a  great  deal  to  help  the 
expedition  with  all  the  local  authorities 
in  the  different  parts  of  the  State  that  I 
might  visit.  We  camped  at  the  first 
available  point  we  could  find,  and  even 
here  slept  at  an  inclination  of  some  thirty 
degrees  to  the  level,  the  mules  grazing 
nearly  overhead  above  us  and  occasionally 
rolling  a  stone  down  on  us  during  the 
night. 

This  part  of  the  Sierra  Madres  has  a 
great  deal  of  game  in  it,  but  the  most 
essential  things  to  hunt  it  with  would 
be  a  good  pair  of  wings,  things  that  un- 
fortunately travelers  never  have.  There 
are  many  white-tailed  deer  in  the  well- 
wooded  valleys,  but  a  brass  band  would 


IN   THE   SIERRA    MADRE   RANGE.  237 

find  them  before  a  Mexican  pack  train,  as 
it  makes  much  less  noise.  In  fact  this  is 
true  of  nearly  all  kinds  of  game  that  can 
be  frightened  off  by  the  lung  power  of 
man.  There  are  also  many  bears  here, 
but  we  saw  none,  nor  any  fresh  signs  of 
them.  It  is  said  by  those  who  ought  to 
know  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  bears  in 
the  Sierra  Madre  range,  lying  between 
Chihuahua  and  Sonora — the  common 
black  species,  and  a  huge  brown  kind  that 
must  be,  I  think,  the  cinnamon  or  the 
grizzly  bear,  so  common  farther  north. 
The  Tarahumari  natives  hunt  the  deer  in 
a  very  singular  manner,  but  they  leave 
the  bears  alone,  as  their  weapons,  the 
bows  of  mora  wood,  are  not  strong 
enough  for  such  an  uncertain  encounter. 
The  jaguar,  or  Mexican  spotted  panther, 
is     known    as    far    north    as    this,     but 


238  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

seems  to  keep  to  the  warm  lands,  or 
tierra  caliente,  which  restricts  it  to  the 
low  plains  of  Sonora  and  Sinaloa,  just 
west  of  here. 

The  endurance  of  these  savage  sons  of 
the  sierras  in  chasing  deer  is  wonderful. 
They  take  a  small  native  dog  and  starve 
it  for  three  or  four  days  till  it  has  a  most 
ravenous  appetite ;  then  they  go  deer 
hunting,  and  put  this  keen-nosed,  hungry 
animal  on  the  freshest  deer  trail  they  can 
find.  It  is  perfectly  needless  to  add  that 
he  follows  it  with  a  vim  and  energy  un- 
known to  full  stomachs.  Fast  as  a  hun- 
gry, starved  dog  is  on  a  trail  that  prom- 
ises a  good  breakfast,  he  does  not  keep 
far  ahead  of  the  swift-footed  cliff  dweller, 
who  is  always  close  enough  behind  to 
render  any  assistance  that  may  be  re- 
quired   if    the    deer   is  overtaken    or    a 


IN   THE   SIERRA   MADRE  RANGE.  239 

fresher  trail  is  run  across.  I  should 
say  the  dog  is  always  liberally  rewarded 
if  the  hunt  is  a  success. 

If  night  overtakes  the  pursuers  they 
sleep  on  the  trail,  and  resume  the  chase 
as  early  next  morning  as  the  light  will 
allow.  Once  on  the  trail,  however,  the 
deer  is  a  doomed  animal,  although  the 
pursuers  have  been  known  to  sleep  for 
two  or  three  nights  on  its  course  before 
it  was  overtaken,  especially  if  the  fleeing 
animal  knew  in  some  way  that  it  was  pur- 
sued long  before  it  was  overtaken.  Once 
overhauled,  a  series  of  tactics  is  begun  so 
as  to  divide  the  labor  of  the  pursuit  be- 
tween the  dog  and  the  man,  but  to  give 
no  corresponding  advantage  to  the  deer. 
Wide  detours  are  forced  upon  the  deer 
by  the  swift  dog,  each  recurring  one  be- 
ing easier  to  make,  and  the  pursued  ani- 


240  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

mal  is  brought  near  the  man,  who,  with 
loud  shouts  and  demonstrations,  heads 
off  the  exhausted  animal  every  little 
while  and  turns  it  back  on  the  pursuing 
dog,  until  finally  in  one  of  the  retreats  it 
falls  a  temporary  prey  to  its  canine 
foe,  when  the  man  rushes  in  and  with  a 
knife  soon  dispatches  the  game. 

Early  one  morning  we  could  hear  wild 
turkeys  calling  from  one  cliff  to  the 
other,  but  as  these  were  over  a  thousand 
feet  higher  and  steeper  than  the  leaning- 
tower  of  Pisa,  I  suddenly  lost  all  the  wild, 
turkey  zeal  I  had  brought  along  with  me 
for  the  trip.  Then,  again,  if  a  com- 
mander leaves  his  pack  train  just  as  they 
are  getting  away,  he  will  surely  find  a 
delay  of  an  hour  or  two  on  his  hands,  for 
which  it  would  take  a  dozen  turkeys  to 
make  amends.     There  is  a  plentiful  sup- 


AN    OCCUPIED   CAVE    DWELLING 


IN   THE   SIERRA    MADRE  RANGE,  243 

ply  of  game  in  the  Mexican  sierras,  how- 
ever, for  any  sportsman  who  wishes  to 
devote  his  attention  directly  to  that 
pastime,  as  shown  by  the  big  scores  the 
natives  make  when  they  go  on  a  hunting 
trip. 

Early  next  morning  we  made  a  start 
from  our  camp  on  the  caflon's  side,  by 
the  light  of  the  pitch-pine  torches,  and 
climbed  over  and  out  of  the  deep  gorge 
into  a  more  open  country,  where  the  sun- 
light could  penetrate.  Here  the  trail 
was  of  velvety  softness,  and  we  surprised 
a  number  of  cave-dwelling  Indians  sitting 
and  standing  about  their  homes  among 
the  big  bowlders.  The  only  garments 
they  had  on  were  ragged  breechcloths  of 
cotton,  but  some  had  the  extra  adorn- 
ment of  a  strip  of  red  cloth  about  their 
shocky  black  hair.    The  air  was  intensely 


244  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

cold,  SO  much  so  that  we  were  wrapped 
in  our  heaviest  coats,  but  these  savages 
apparently  did  not  feel  the  cold,  and  if 
they  shivered  at  all  it  was  probably  at  the 
sight  of  us — for  their  fear  was  quite 
evident — and  it  was  plain  they  longed  to 
beat  a  retreat  to  their  huge  rocky  homes  ; 
but  they  stood  it  out  till  we  passed,  and 
then  in  an  instant  they  vanished. 

Before  this  day's  march  was  ended  we 
passed  through  a  little  Tarahumari  moun- 
tain town  called  Churo.  It  was  in  a  small 
circular  valley,  and  on  all  sides  were  the 
steep,  high  peaks  of  the  mountains. 
Here  the  Indians  had  tried  to  raise  a  few 
apples,  but  the  trees  were  gnarled  and 
twisted,  and  the  apples  not  much  larger 
than  those  of  wild  crab  trees,  although 
much  sweeter  to  the  taste.  Of  course 
there  was  no  store  of  any  kind  in  the  lit- 


HOME  OF   CAVE   DWELLER. 


IN   THE   SIERRA    MADRE   RANGE.  247 

tie  settlement,  and  if  Mexicans,  passing 
through  the  place,  wished  to  obtain  any- 
thing from  the  Indians,  their  method  was 
to  take  it,  placing  whatever  they  consid- 
ered its  equivalent  in  silver  before  the 
Indian,  and  leaving  it  for  the  latter  to 
accept.  If  asked  to  sell  any  of  their 
produce  or  set  a  price  on  it,  the  Indians 
stolidly  refuse,  even  though  the  price  may 
be  two  or  three  times  greater  than  they 
could  possibly  obtain  at  the  nearest  Mexi- 
can mining  town.  They  know  nothing 
of  the  value  of  gold,  and  paper  money 
they  utterly  refuse ;  silver  is  the  only 
money  they  will  take  even  in  this  reluctant 
fashion. 

Upon  reaching  Cusihulriachic  I' found 
that  my  Winchester  rifle  had  been 
left  in  the  stage  office  in  Chihuahua. 
I  sent  back  word  to  forward  it  by  next 


24.8  CAVE  AND  CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

Stage  to  Carichic,  but  as  the  next  stage 
did  not  arrive  at  that  place  for  four  or 
five  days  we  would  have  just  that  much 
start  of  it  in  the  mountains,  and  we  there- 
fore at  that  place  engaged  a  Tarahumari 
Indian  boy  to  bring  it  whenever  it  did 
arrive.  The  gun  reached  Carichic  at  noon 
of  one  day,  and  early  the  next  forenoon 
the  young  Indian  appeared  on  our  trail 
with  it,  having  made  the  distance  in  one 
night  and  a  little  over  half  a  day.  Of 
course  he  must  have  used  many  short  cuts 
across  the  country  of  which  we  were 
ignorant ;  nevertheless  it  was  quite  a  feat, 
for  the  distance  traveled  by  us  was  about 
no  miles. 

From  Carillo  Cajon,  where  our  last 
camp  had  been,  to  the  westward  and 
southwestward  the  scenery  steadily  be- 
comes  grander  and  more  mountainous ; 


IN   THE   SIERRA    MADRE   RANGE.  251 

until  the  Grand  Barranca  of  the  Urique 
is  reached  it  fully  equals  the  Grand  Canon 
of  the  Colorado  at  any  point  on  its  course. 
Long  before,  indeed,  on  our  southward 
march  beautiful  vistas  break  to  the  right 
and  the  left,  and  especially  to  the  east. 
About  five  o'clock  one  afternoon,  just  as 
we  were  emerging  from  a  dense  forest  of 
high  pines,  and  little  thinking  of  seeing 
stupendous  scenery,  we  suddenly  came 
to  the  very  edge  of  a  cliff  fully  looo 
feet  high,  and  from  which  we  could  look 
down  4000  to  5000  feet  on  as  grand  a 
scene  of  massive  crags,  sculptured  rock, 
and  broken  barrancas  as  the  eye  ever 
rested  on.  It  was  already  late  in  the 
afternoon,  so  I  determined  to  remain 
over  a  day  at  this  point  and  devote  it 
to  camera  and  cafton.  This  camp  on  the  . 
picturesque    brink    of    the    Grand    Bar- 


252  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ranca  I   called  Camp  Diaz,  after  Mexico's 
president. 

The  Grand  Barranca  of  the  Urique  is 
one  of  the  most  massive  pieces  of  nature's 
architecture  that  the  world  affords.  It  is 
quite  similar  in  some  respects  to  the 
Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado,  and  this 
is  the  nearest  to  which  I  can  compare  it 
in  the  United  States.  The  latter,  grand 
as  the  scenery  undoubtedly  is,  soon  tires 
by  its  monotonous  aspect  of  perpendicular 
walls  in  traveling  any  distance,  while  the 
Grand  Barranca  could  be  followed  as  far 
as  it  deserves  the  name  of  "  grand"  and 
every  view  and  every  vista  would  have 
some  startling  and  attractive  change  to 
please  the  eye.  It  is  a  "cross"  between 
the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  and 
the  Yosemite  Valley — if  we  can  imagine 
such   scenery   after  seeing  both.     Were 


I ''HA 


IN   THE   SIERRA    MADRE  RANGE  255 

the  Urique  River  navigable,  fortunes 
could  easily  be  made  by  transportation 
lines  carrying  tourists  to  and  fro,  pro- 
vided even  only  one  terminus  connected 
with  some  v^ell-established  line  of  travel. 
But  unfortunately  it  is  not  navigable,  no 
amount  of  money  could  make  it  so,  and 
all  tourists  or  travelers  v^ho  are  afraid  of 
a  little  work  or  roughing  it  will  miss  one 
of  the  most  magnificent  paroramas.  It  is 
simply  impossible  to  crowd  into  a  pen- 
and-ink  sketch  or  a  photograph  any  ade- 
quate views  of  this  stupendous  mountain 
scenery.  It  is  rather  a  field  for  an  artist, 
who  will  put  the  product  of  his  palette 
and  brush  on  heroic-sized  canvas,  and 
make  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  the 
world.  The  heart  of  the  Andes  or  the 
crests  of  the  Himalayas  contain  no  more 
sublime   scenery   than    the    wild,    almost 


256  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

unknown  fastnesses  of  the  Sierra  Madres 
of  Mexico. 

From  the  cliffs  we  were  on,  among  the 
pines  and  cedars,  we  could  look  far  down 
into  the  valley  of  the  Urlque  with  our 
field  glasses  and  see  the  great  pitahaya 
cactus,  a  product  of  the  tropical  climes. 
In  between  were  the  oaks  and  other  prod- 
ucts of  temperate  climates,  showing  us 
in  a  huge  panorama  nearly  all  the  plant 
life  from  the  equator  to  the  poles.  We 
sat  on  the  bold,  beetling  cliffs,  and  could 
drink  ice  water  from  the  clear  mountain 
springs  that  threw  themselves  in  silvery 
cascades  below,  and  view  the  river  far 
down  in  the  valley,  a  perpendicular  mile 
below  us,  the  waters  of  which  were  so 
warm  that  we  knew  we  could  bathe  in 
them  with  comfort.  Away  off  across  the 
great  canon  were  lights,  as  evening  fell, 


IN   THE   SIERRA   MADRE  RANGE.  257 

beaming  from  the  caves  of  the  cliff  dwell- 
ers on  the  perpendicular  side  of  the 
mountain.  Truly  it  was  a  strange,  wild 
sight. 

One  of  the  lights  that  was  "  raised,"  as 
the  sailors  would  say,  in  the  evening,  was 
in  what  seemed  to  be  a  perpendicular 
cliff  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mighty 
barranca,  as  near  as  we  could  make  out 
in  the  gloom  of  the  falling  night.  Its 
position  was  located,  and,  surely  enough, 
on  the  next  day  our  conjectures  were 
verified,  for  we  could  see  a  few  dim 
dottings  showing  caves,  while  to  the 
main  one  led  up  a  steep  talus  of  debris 
that  tapered  to  a  point  just  in  front  of 
the  entrance.  Strangest  of  all,  but  a 
little  way  down  the  side  of  this  very 
steep  talus,  so  very  steep  that  one  would 
have   had   much   difficulty  in    ascending 


258  CAFE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

unless  there  were  brush  to  assist  in  climb- 
ing, we  could  easily  make  out,  with  the 
help  of  our  glasses,  that  corn  had  been 
planted  by  these  strange  people.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  tops  of  the  dwarf  plants 
were  just  up  to  the  roots  of  the  next  row 
of  corn  above  them,  if  they  can  really  be 
said  to  have  been  planted  in  rows  at  all. 

Much  as  I  would  have  liked  to  visit  the 
place,  the  condition  of  my  mules  and  the 
state  of  my  provisions  made  it  clearly  out 
of  the  question ;  moreover,  I  was  in- 
formed that  better  chances  to  see  cliff 
dwellers  would  present  themselves  before 
long,  which  statement,  fortunately,  was 
soon  verified.  Not  far  from  Camp  Diaz 
was  a  place  where  we  could  have  tied  our 
braided  horsehair  lariats  together  and 
let  a  person  down  one  hundred  to  two 
hundred  feet  into  the  tops  of  some  tall 


IN    THE   SIERRA    MADRE   RANGE.  259 

pine  trees,  and  from  there  gain  the  first 
incline,  which,  though  dizzily  steep,  I 
think  would  have  led,  by  a  little   Alpine 


INTERIOR   OF   A   CLIFF   DWELLER  S    HOME,    SEVENTY-FIVE 
FEET   ABOVE   THE   WATER. 


engi4ieering,  into  the  bottom  of  the  big 
barranca  four  or  ^v^  thousand  feet  below, 
and  thence  an  ascent  could  be  made  to 
the  caves  of  the  cliff  dwellers.     But  there 


26o  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS, 

were  other  and  more  potent  considera- 
tions, which  I  have  given,  that  prevented 
onr  attempting  this  acrobatic  performance 
with  the  cliffs  and  crags  as  spectators. 
We  might  say  that  we  were  now  out  of 
the  land  of  the  living  cave  dwellers  and 
in  the  land  of  the  living  cliff  dwellers, 
although  the  latter  live  In  caves  In  the 
cliffs.  But  I  make  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  two,  of  caves  on  the  level  of  the 
ground  in  the  valleys  or  the  sides  of 
mountains,  and  the  caves  in  cliffs  or  walls. 
The  latter  are  reached  by  notched  sticks 
used  as  ladders,  or,  as  I  saw  in  a  few 
cases,  by  natural  steps  In  the  strata  of 
alternate  hard  and  soft  rock,  and  up 
which  nothing  but  a  monkey  or  a  Sierra 
Madre  cliff  dweller  could  ascend.  Many 
of  these  cliff  houses  in  the  caves  and 
great    indentations  are   one   hundred  to 


J,      3     1         •> 


1    >         1     J    ■)     '    ■> 


IN   THE   SIERRA   MADRE   RANGE.  263 

two  hundred  feet  above  the  water  of  some 
mountain  stream,  over  which  they  hang 
like  swallows'  nests.  Truly  they  are  a 
most  wonderful  and  interesting  people, 
well  worth  a  large  volume  or  two  to  de- 
scribe all  that  is  singular  and  different  in 
them  from  other  people,  savage  or  civilized. 
One  of  the  most  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  the  Sierra  Madre  range,  and 
one  that  will  attract  widespread  admira- 
tion in  the  near  future  when  this  country 
is  better  known,  is  its  wonderful  rock 
sculpture.  I  do  not  think  I  exaggerate 
in  saying  that  I  passed  hundreds  of  iso- 
lated sculptured  rocks  in  one  day.  All 
sketches  fail  to  give  an  idea  of  these 
beautiful  formations.  They  must  be 
seen  to  afford  a  conception  of  their 
beauty  and  grotesqueness.  Undoubtedly 
they  outrank  all  other  ranges  of  North 


264  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

America  and,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  of  the 
whole  world.  Even  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods  in  Colorado  is  flat  in  comparison 
with  some  of  the  many  miles  of  glorious 
rock  formations  in  these  grand  old  moun- 
tains. The  trail  from  Camp  Diaz  to  our 
fifth  camp  in  the  Arroyo  de  los  Angelitos 
along  the  western  side  of  the  Grand 
Barranca  of  the  Urique,  was  as  pictur- 
esque as  the  most  poetical  imagination 
could  conceive.  The  trail  wound  up  and 
down  the  steep  arroyos  and  along  the 
edge  of  the  high  cliffs,  giving  views  of 
unsurpassed  beauty  and  grandeur.  That 
night  we  slept  for  the  last  time  under  the 
somber  pines  and  listened  to  the  whip- 
poor-wills,  for  the  next  night  we  had 
descended  seven  thousand  feet,  and  were 
among  the  oranges  and  palms,  the 
paroquets  and  humming  birds. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IN       SOUTHWESTERN       CHIHUAHUA  —  DOWN 

THE    URIQUE    BARRANCA FROM    PINE    TO 

PALM URIQUE    AND    ITS    MINES. 

AS  this  was  to  be  a  most  important  day 
-^  ^  our  small  party  on  the  crest  of  one  of 
the  high  sierras  was  astir  earlier  than  usual. 
Our  camp  had  been  made  in  a  little  glen 
between  two  peaks,  alongside  one  of  the 
numerous  clear,  cold  streams  that  wind  in 
and  about  through  all  these  mountains, 
and  furnish  the  loveliest  and  most 
picturesque  spots  imaginable  for  camping. 
Francisco,  my  chief  packer,  a  bright, 
good-natured  Mexican,  was  off  long  be- 
fore sunrise,  scouring  the  ridges  and  the 
265 


266  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

gulches  for  the  mules,  as  these  animals 
often  wander  miles  away  at  night,  and  in 
the  morning  all  the  available  people  in 
camp  are  turned  out  to  look  for  them. 
This  search  sometimes  wears  well  into 
the  day  before  these  frisky  beasts  are 
brought  in  ;  then  some  stray  human 
member  of  the  party  has  to  be  found,  and 
when  all  this  is  accomplished  it  is  nearly 
time  to  turn  out  the  mules  for  another 
feed.  On  this  particular  morning  fortune 
favored  us,  however,  and  soon  our 
dejected-looking  beasts  were  tied  in  line 
with  the  lariats,  while  we  sat  on  the 
ground  a  short  distance  from  them,  each 
with  a  tin  plate  in  our  laps  and  a  tin  cup- 
ful of  coffee  in  our  hands.  The  night 
before  an  Indian  had  arrived  at  our 
camp,  sent  out  from  Urique  by  our 
Mexican  friend,  with  roasted  chickens  and 


IN  SOUTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA.  267 

fresh  eggs.  The  chickens  had  vanished 
on  the  evening  of  their  arrival,  but  the 
eggs  furnished  us  a  royal  breakfast  with 
the  usual  bill  of  fare,  bacon  and  coffee. 
An  early  morning  in  the  Sierra  Madres, 
even  in  midsummer,  will  make  the  teeth 
qhatter.  The  only  comfort  one  can  get, 
after  piling  on  heavy  coats,  is  to  pass  the 
time  in  revolving  about  the  camp  fire  just 
out  of  reach  of  the  smoke  till  breakfast  is 
ready.  Any  attempt  at  washing  is  sure 
to  be  a  failure,  for  the  water  is  as  cold  as 
ice  and  the  fingers  refuse  to  work  in  the 
frosty  air  ;  so  it  is  generally  about  mid- 
day before  dirt  and  the  traveler  cease  to 
be  companions.  After  we  had  thawed 
out  with  the  hot  coffee,  and  all  the  packs 
had  been  strapped  on  the  mules,  the 
animals  were  started  ahead,  with  Fran- 
cisco's assistant,  a  muscular   Indian,   run- 


268  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ning  after  them ;  then  the  saddles  were 
placed  on  our  worn-out  beasts,  and  off 
we  went  with  light  hearts,  for  this  day's 
ride  was  to  take  us  to  the  large  mining 
village  of  Urique,  buried  away  in  the 
depths  of  the  Urique  Barranca.  We  had 
been  on  the  road  about  an  hour,  up  hill 
and  down  dale,  crossing  innumerable 
mountain  streams,  and  skirting  the  edges 
of  precipices  from  which  we  caught 
glimpses  of  the  beautiful  valleys  thou- 
sands of  feet  below,  when  we  rounded  the 
corner  of  an  immense  spur,  climbed  a 
high  bald  point  of  the  mountain,  and 
came  suddenly  to  what  appeared  to  be 
the  end  of  land.  We  could  now  look  out 
for  miles  into  the  great  mining  barranca, 
broken  into  innumerable  crags  and  turrets, 
with  ridges  and  banks  of  mountains  piled 
high  on  every  side,  mountains  of  purple, 


IN  SOUTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA.         269 

red,  yellow,  and  green,  magnificent  and 
fantastic,  fading  away  into  other  bar- 
rancas to  the  right  and  left.  Here  we 
paused,  seven  thousand  feet  above  the 
valley,  and  looked  at  the  wonderful  pano- 
rama spread  before  us,  celebrated  even 
apong  these  grand  old  mountains — by 
the  few  who  have  penetrated  their  fast- 
nesses— as  one  of  the  most  famous  views 
and  formidable  descents  in  the  whole 
range.  The  guides  carefully  examined 
all  the  packs  and  saddles,  and  every  strap 
and  rope  was  tightened  and  made  secure. 
All  were  directed  to  remain  in  their 
saddles,  as  the  descent  was  too  steep  and 
the  way  too  dangerous  for  walking,  the 
path  or  trail  being  covered  with  loose 
rolling  stones.  We  had  been  told  to 
give  the  mules  their  heads,  and  trust  to 
their  being  perfectly  sure-footed,  for  in 


27©  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

that  respect  a  Mexican  mule  is  about  as 
certain  as  a  mountain  goat. 

From  ''  La  Cumbra,"  or  the  crest  of  the 
Sierra  Madres,  we  could  look  down  in  the 
valley  of  the  Urique  River,  as  I  have  said, 
something  over  a  vertical  mile.  As  we 
stood  among  the  pines  we  could  see  the 
plantations  of  oranges  far  below,  one  of 
which,  called  "  La  Naranja  " — the  Spanish 
for  orange — seemed  almost  under  our 
feet  ;  in  fact  it  was  not  farther  away  in 
horizontal  measure  than  it  was  vertical,  or 
about  a  mile  in  both.  The  Barranca  of 
the  Urique  was  much  more  open  at  this 
point  than  where  we  had  first  struck  it  at 
Camp  Diaz,  but  it  was,  nevertheless,  fully 
as  grand  and  sublime  in  its  mighty 
scenery,  although  of  quite  another  kind. 
The  enormous  buttresses,  almost  spurs  of 
mountains,    that    stood    out    along    the 


DOWN   THE    URIQUE   BARRANCA.  2^1 

cafton-like  sides  of  the  former,  with  their 
bristling,  perpendicular  fronts  of  thou- 
sands of  feet  in  height,  were  now  rounded 
off  along  the  ridges  with  their  vertical 
descents,  and  only  their  sides  were 
straight  up  and  down.  In  fact  it  was 
down  these  steep  ridges  that  we  must 
make  our  descent  by  zigzag  trails  that 
gave  us  a  grade  on  which  a  mule  could 
stand.  Every  time  we  came  to  the  side 
of  a  ridge  the  trail  hung  over  a  precipice 
with  a  sickening  dizziness  to  the  rider 
until  the  mule  could  make  the  turn  and 
get  back  on  the  descending  trail.  Occa- 
sionally it  was  necessary  to  leave  one 
ridge  for  another  far  away  that  gave  a 
better  grade,  and  then  we  might  have  to 
skirt  some  cumbra,  or  crest,  with  walls 
practically  vertical  on  either  side,  where, 
if  we  ever  started  to  fall,  we  could  guar- 


272  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

antee  ourselves  one  thousand  five  hundred 
to  two  thousand  feet  of  plain  sailing. 

On  the  trail  from  Batopilas  to  Parral  is 
the  ''La  Infinitad"  of  the  Mexican 
miners  (the  Infinity),  where  the  trail,  not 
over  half  a  foot  wide,  looks  down  a  sheer 
vertical  twenty-six  hundred  feet. 

Presently  the  pines  begin  to  grow  less 
numerous  and  to  be  interspersed  with  the 
many  varieties  of  oak  for  which  the 
Sierra  Madres  will  one  day  be  noted,  the 
most  conspicuous  of  which  is  the  encino 
robleSy  or  everlasting  oak,  a  beautiful  tree 
with  enormous  leaves  of  a  bright  green 
color.  The  oaks  increase  in  numbers  as 
we  descend,  and  the  pines  soon  disappear  ; 
for  we  are  getting  out  of  the  country  of 
cold  nights,  which  the  conifers  love  so 
much.  Presently  a  thorny  mesquite  is 
seen,  and  in  half  an  hour  we  have  traveled 


FROM  PINE    TO  PALM.  273 

from  Montana  to  Texas,  in  a  climatic 
way.  On  the  cumbra  we  jumped  off 
from  our  mules  and  ran  along  by  the  half 
hour  in  the  cool,  fresh  mountain  air. 
Now  five  minutes  brings  out  our  hand- 
kerchiefs to  wipe  our  perspiring  brows. 
The  northern  cactus  will  soon  mingle 
with  the  mesquite,  and  then  the  great 
pitahaya  tells  us  we  are  on  the  verge  of 
the  tropics,  while  each  tree  in  the  orange 
orchard  just  below  us  can  be  made  out, 
and  after  a  few  more  turns  on  the  twist- 
ing trails,  even  the  yellow  oranges  on  the 
bright  green  trees  become  distinct. 
Another  half  hour  and  we  are  on  the 
level,  while  not  that  length  of  time  has 
been  added  before  palms  are  over  our 
head,  and  the  heat  is  almost  unbearable 
to  those  who  have  been  for  weeks  on  the 
high  mountain  tops  of  the  cool  sierras. 


274  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

In  a  little  over  four  hours  we  dropped 
from  the  land  of  the  pine  to  the  land  of 
the  palm,  and  this  too  on  mule-back,  a 
feat  that  could  be  performed  in  few  coun- 
tries outside  of  Mexico.  We  were  now 
out  of  the  land  of  wild  forests  and  , wild 
men,  back  again  among  Mexican  civili- 
zation, but  of  a  kind  almost  unknown  to 
the  outside  world,  although  one  of  the 
richest  mining  districts  and  one  of  the 
oldest  points  of  colonization  on  the  North 
American  continent. 

Our  path  was  now  lined  with  lovely, 
flowering,  thorny  shrubs,  that  stretched 
out  and  tried  to  scratch  us,  and  often 
succeeded  as  we  passed  by.  When  we 
reached  the  little  plateau  of  the  first 
orange  grove  we  rested  awhile,  and  from 
here  could  look  back  to  the  cool  place  we 
had    left    but  four  short   hours    before. 


FROM  ORANGE  i'l.ANTATION    TO    CUMBRA,  OR    CRKST    OF  MOUN- 
TAIN, SIX  THOUSAND  FEEF.       LOOKING  BACKWARD. 


FROM  PINE    TO  PALM.  277 

The  way  down  from  this  resting  place 
seemed  steeper  and  longer  than  the  first 
half  of  the  journey  ;  the  heat  became  in- 
tense, the  air  throbbing  and  shimmering 
in  the  brilliant  sunshine.  Gayly  colored 
paroquets  and  strange  tropical  birds  went 
flitting  past  us  and  filled  the  air  with 
their  noisy  calls  and  cries.  The  trail, 
however,  had  a  persistent,  unaccountable 
Indian  method  of  keeping  away  from  all 
shade,  and  wound  among  the  thickest 
masses  of  thorny  shrubs,  which  com- 
pelled us  constantly  to  keep  an  eye  on 
them,  or  be  reminded  in  a  manner  more 
painful  than  pleasant.  These,  and  the 
intense  heat,  made  me  long  for  the 
mountain  life  again.  Although  we  had 
dropped  from  the  crest  of  the  range  and 
land  of  pines  to  the  land  of  palms,  seven 
thousand  feet,  still  we  had  many  miles  to 


278  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

wind  up  the  great  tropical  barranca  be- 
fore we  would  reach  the  village. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  "places  on 
the  entire  trail,  about  six  hundred  feet 
above  the  river,  was  where  the  mountain 
had  apparently  caved  in  on  a  sharp  curve. 
This  cave-in  was  directly  under  the  trail, 
and  here  it  crossed  it  with  an  abrupt  turn 
around  the  point  of  the  mountain.  A 
small  torrent  had  cut  its  way  down  at 
this  point,  and  goats  and  other  animals, 
when  grazing  on  the  steep  slope  above, 
had  loosened  quantities  of  stones  and 
earth,  which  had  fallen  and  built  out  a  sort 
of  ledge  or  shelf  at  the  same  point.  This 
shelf  projected  over  the  great  curve  in 
the  hill,  and  on  approaching  this  place  it 
looked  as  if  a  mule  must  either  walk  off 
with  his  fore  feet  or  let  his  hind  ones 
drop  over  the  cliff  in  making  the   turn. 


FROM  PINE    TO  PALM.  279 

Of  course  the  trail  was  as  narrow  as 
possible  for  a  trail  to  be  and  allow  an 
animal  to  cling  to  it. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Don  Augus- 
tin  Becerra  there  was  sent  out  from 
Urique  to  the  orange  plantation  a  very 
large  mule  for  my  personal  comfort. 
This  animal  was  of  the  pinto  variety  and 
a  fine  traveler.  After  my  desperate  en- 
counters with  "  Old  Steamboat "  it  was 
positive  luxury  to  ride  him.  He  had 
some  faults,  however ;  he  was  fresh  and 
fast,  so  kept  well  in  advance  of  the  rest 
of  the  train.  When  we  neared  this  par- 
ticularly dangerous  place  my  mule  took  up 
a  gentle  trot  and  went  pounding  around 
the  curve  in  a  way  that  almost  turned  my 
hair  gray,  and  I  know  we  all  breathed 
more  freely  after  getting  away  from  the 
perilous  spot. 


28o  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

The  Mexican  town  of  Urique,  number- 
ing some  three  thousand  people,  was  first 
established  in  1612,  years  before  the  first 
pilgrim  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock,  and 
yet  it  is  as  unknown  as  though  in  the 
interior  of  Africa.  That  living  cave  and 
cliff  dwellers  should  be  found  but  a  little 
way  off  from  the  rough  and  even  dan- 
gerous trail  that  leads  to  the  secluded 
town  which  no  one  troubled  himself  to 
report  to  the  world  outside,  shows  what  a 
wonderful  isolation  can  exist  and  still  be 
called  civilization.  The  only  way  out  of 
and  Into  the  town  was  on  the  back  of  the 
melancholy  mule,  and  an  old  resident  told 
me  he  believed  that  three-fourths  of  the 
people  had  never  seen  a  wagon,  not  even 
the  wooden  carts  of  the  Mexicans  that  so 
remind  one  of  scriptural  times  ;  certainly 
no  wagon  or  cart  was  ever  hauled  through 


i&u 


URIQUE   AND   ITS  MINES.  283 

the  streets  of  Urique.  In  this  deep  bar- 
ranca there  is  just  room  enough  for  the 
Urique  River  (a  beautiful  stream),  and 
alongside  of  it,  straggling  out  for  a  couple 
of  miles  or  more,  a  row  of  houses  hug- 
ging the  banks  of  the  stream,  then  a  nar- 
row street  and  a  similar  row  of  houses 
crowded  up  on  the  slope  of  the  moun- 
tain. Back  of  this  rise  abruptly  the  steep, 
broken  crests  of  the  Sierra  Madres.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river  there  is 
only  room  now  and  then  for  a  chance 
house  that  clings  to  the  steep  sides  of 
the  hills  or  burrows  into  them. 

We  rode  with  a  great  clatter  up  the 
single  street  lying  white  and  still  in  the 
noonday  sun,  and  had  we  not  known  that 
preparations  had  been  made  for  us — as 
our  arrival  was  anticipated  by  Don 
Augustin  Becerra — we  might  have    mis- 


284  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

taken  the  place  for  a  deserted  village,. 
After  riding  a  mile  through  the  street  we 
reached  a  little  plaza  about  twenty-five 
feet  square,  where  the  mountains  receded 
and  made  room  for  this  level  little  patch 
of  ground.  Here  one  of  the  great 
wooden  doors  of  the -apparently  deserted 
houses  opened  and  our  host  came  forth, 
followed  by  a  number  of  others.  By  the 
time  the  whole  party  reached  the  plaza 
there  were  one  or  two  hundred  Mexicans 
congregated  to  welcome  us  and  see  us 
alight.  As  there  were  no  accommoda- 
tions of  any  sort  in  the  town  for  trav- 
elers, Don  Augustin  Becerra,  with  the 
graceful  courtesy  of  a  Mexican  gentle- 
man, had  moved  out  of  his  own  home 
and  literally  placed-hls  whole  house  and 
all  it  contained  at  our  disposal ;  and  this 
was  done  as  though  it  were  the  most  com- 


,'  ;>;  ;  \3 


r         t    t    t    „c    c        , 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  287 

monplace  thing  in  the  world,  and  without 
the  least  sign  of  ostentatious  politeness. 
I  doubt  very  much  whether  any  American 
under  the  same  circumstances  would  have 
done  as  much.  His  father,  Don  Buena- 
ventura Becerra,  lived  here  also,  and  both 
united  in  showering  on  us  the  most  ac- 
ceptable acts  of  hospitality  during  our 
whole  stay ;  and  these  were  doubly  wel- 
come, coming  as  they  did  in  such  a  spon- 
taneous and  wholly  unexpected  manner. 

Urique  is  most  interesting  in  that  vast 
and  substantial  mineral  wealth  of  which 
the  little  town  is  practically  the  center. 
The  discovery  of  the  rich  district  of 
Urique  is  to  be  attributed,  so  I  am  told, 
to  the  "  adelantados "  or  "conquista- 
dores,"  Spanish  names  equivalent  to 
"  adventurers,"  and  then  given  to  the 
commanders  of  expeditions  organized  but 


288  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

a  short  time  after  the  conquest  to  explore 
the  country  and  extend  the  domains  of  the 
Spanish  crown.  Directly  overlooking  this 
beautiful  little  mountain  town  is  the  Rosa- 
rio  mine,  one  of  the  principal  mines  of  the 
district.  Its  ore  runs  from  two  hundred 
to  two  thousand  dollars  to  the  ton.  In 
fact  only  the  richest  ores  of  any  mine  can 
be  worked  in  the  Central  Sierra  Madres, 
where  everything  is  carried  for  hundreds 
of  miles  on  mule-back  at  rates  that  would 
make  a  freight  agent's  mouth  water.  Salt 
for  chlorination  works,  that  we  get  for 
five  to  ten  dollars  a  ton  where  there  are 
railways,  here  costs  from  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  a  ton, 
and  even  much  more  during  the  rainy 
season  of  about  three  months,  when  all 
the  streams  are  swollen  and  the  dizzy 
mountain  trails  are  dangerous  in  the  ex- 


>  »     J.;  ,>  '  i 


->  ,  >  ,  5 , 


URIQUE  AND   ITS  MINES.  291 

treme.  This  rainy  season  in  Northern 
Mexico  lasts  from  about  the  first  or  mid- 
dle of  June  until  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber. It  is  against  such  enormous  odds 
that  man  has  to  battle  with  Nature  in 
this  secluded  part  of  the  earth  in  order 
to  get  at  her  wealth  that  is  otherwise  so 
lavishly  strewn  around.  After  one  has 
passed  ten  or  twelve  days  on  the  roughest 
of  mountain  trails  in  order  to  reach  this 
point,  and  reflects  that  the  discoverers 
must  have  been  without  even  this  poor 
aid  to  progress,  one's  respect  for  the  old 
Spanish  explorers  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury is  sure  to  be  heartily  accorded.  They 
were  undoubtedly  a  much  hardier,  more 
daring,  persistent,  and  intrepid  class  of 
people  than  those  who  struck  the  Atlantic 
shores  of  our  own  country.  But,  great 
ghost  of  Cortes,  how  things  have  changed  ! 


292  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

It  seems  as  if  the  will  and  energy  of 
three  centuries  had  been  crowded  into  as 
many  years,  and  then  allowed  to  stand 
still,  like  a  watch  that  loses  its  balance 
and  spins  off  the  twenty-four  hours  in 
nearly  as  many  seconds. 

And  right  here  I  would  refer  to.  the 
frequent  discussion  of  writers  on  Mexico 
as  to  whether  Mexicans  are  opposed  to 
the  introduction  of  foreign  labor  and  capi- 
tal to  develop  their  country.  All  around 
the  town  of  Urique  are  to  be  found 
mines  of  gold  and  silver  either  operated 
or  about  to  be  operated  by  Americans, 
English,  Germans,  and  other  foreigners  ; 
while  many  other  enterprises  are  starting 
toward  this  rich  country  opened  by  the 
Spanish  before  a  white  man  had  crossed 
the  AUeghenies.  I  was  therefore  in  a  fair 
position  to  hear  what  their  descendants 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  293 

had  to  say,  and  in  giving  it  utterance 
let  me  compare  them  with  our  own 
countrymen.  Individually  the  Mexican  is 
never  so  bitter  against  foreigners  as  the 
American,  although  the  latter  nation  is 
much  more  an  aggregation  of  foreigners 
than  the  former,  and  of  much  later  date 
from  other  countries.  I  often  heard  quite 
caustic  comparisons  from  sensible  Mexi- 
cans as  to  foreign  methods  of  mining, 
railroading,  etc.,  which  I  think  were  some- 
times exaggerative,  and  they  even  ex- 
pressed opposition  to  their  coming  in  at 
all,  but  never  in  a  manner  so  pronounced 
as  with  us. 

The  whole  of  the  rich  Urique  district, 
formerly  an  old  Spanish  grant  many 
square  miles  in  extent,  was  granted  the 
Becerra  family  of  three  brothers  by  the 
Mexican  Government.     Their  wealth  is 


294  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

reputed  to  be  many  millions,  and  this 
we  could  readily  believe  while  passing 
through  a  portion  of  their  vast  posses- 
sions. There  are  now  in  the  Urique 
district  a  dozen  bonanza  mines  worked 
by  the  old  Spanish  system,  which  would 
yield  enormous  revenues  if  there  were 
any  method  by  which  the  ore  could  be 
transported  at  reasonable  rates.  From 
almost  any  point  on  the  one  street  of  the 
town  you  could  look  up  the  steep  moun- 
tain sides  and  see  three  or  four  of  these 
old  Spanish  mines.  The  method  of 
working  them  was  wholly  on  the  same 
plan  as  that  adopted  a  hundred  years 
before,  even  the  machinery  being  of  the 
most  primitive  type. 

That  night  I  took  a  swim  in  the  Urique 
River  and  found  the  water  as  warm  as 
fresh  milk,  although  the  water  I  had  used 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  295 

in  the  morning  from  some  of  its  small 
tributaries  on  the  cumbra  was  as  cold  as 
ice. 

The  post  office  in  the  little  town  was 
a  most  curiously  primitive  affair,  being 
merely  an  awning  of  branches  held  up 
against  a  tree  by  a  post  in  the  ground. 
Under  this  an  old  man  was  seated  on 
a  chair ;  we  saw  nothing  here  to  indicate 
a  post  office,  but  were  assured  this  was 
the  spot  to  deposit  our  letters.  The  man 
regarded  me  with  surprise  and  distrust, 
and  the  sight  of  the  three  or  four  letters 
I  wished  to  mail  drew  a  large  crowd. 
The  old  man  could  not  read,  and  I  told 
him  where  the  letters  were  to  go  ;  then, 
after  a  great  deal  of  jabbering  among  the 
crowd  regarding  the  amount  of  postage, 
which  I  fortunately  knew  and  told  him, 
the  letters  were  mailed  by  being  deposited 


296  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

in  an  empty  cigar  box  at  his  side,  to  be 
handed  to  the  Indian  mail  carrier  on  his 
next  trip  out  of  Urique. 

Our  stay  was  unexpectedly  prolonged 
by  the  illness  of  one  of  the  party.  It 
was  the  warmest  season  of  the  year  in  the 
deep  tropical  barranca,  and  the  change 
from  the  cool  mountain  air  of  the  high 
sierras  was  extremely  trying  to  all.  We 
found  it  was  necessary  to  make  an  effort 
to  bestir  ourselves  as  far  as  sightseeing 
was  concerned,  but  we  dared  to  venture 
out  only  after  sunset  from  our  comfort- 
able quarters  in  the  thick  adobe  building. 
There  was  no  twilight  in  the  great  cafton. 
Almost  as  soon  as  the  sun  disappeared 
behind  the  steep  mountains  darkness 
came  ;  but  the  moonlight  nights  were 
simply  glorious,  transforming  the  tropical 
valley  into  a  perfect  fairyland ;  even  the 


URIQUE   A,VD   ITS  MINES.  297 

homely  adobe  houses  were  beautiful,  and 
the  most  commonplace  Mexican,  in  his 
great  sombrero  with  a  serape  thrown 
gracefully  over  his  shoulders,  added  a 
picturesque  touch  to  the  scene.  Every 
available  level  spot  of  land  in  the  valley 
had  been  turned  by  the  owners  into  an 
orange  grove  or  a  ranch  on  which  to  raise 
fruits  and  vegetables  for  consumption  by 
their  families  ;  and,  as  all  the  edible  vege- 
tation of  nearly  every  clime  grew  there, 
their  tables  were  always  abundantly 
supplied. 

In  wandering  along  the  river  bank 
I  noticed  one  very  effective  way  the 
natives  had  to  protect  their  gardens  from 
the  intrusions  of  the  small  boy  or  even 
smaller  animals.  On  the  top  of  a  com- 
mon adobe  fence  they  planted  a  row  of 
the  cholla  cactus,  the  most   prickly  of  all 


298  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

that  great  family  of  needles.  Even  the 
agile  cat  could  not  get  over  nor  around 
this  formidable  fence. 

We  made  two  ineffectual  efforts  to  get 
away  from  Urique  before  we  finally  suc- 
ceeded. In  the  first  instance  the  packers 
did  not  arrive  with  the  mules  until  noon, 
thinking  by  this  ruse  they  would  be  able 
to  camp  in  the  valley  instead  of  on  the 
mountain,  for  they  much  prefer  the  trop- 
ical heat  to  the  chill  of  the  high  moun- 
tains. The  next  time  they  were  promptly 
on  hand,  but  one  of  the  party  was  too  ill 
to  sit  up.  The  third  time  fortune  favored 
us,  and,  after  bidding  adieu  to  our  hos- 
pitable friends,  we  started  for  the  famous 
Cerro  Colorado  mine,  said  to  be  the  rich- 
est gold  mine  in  all  this  part  of  Mexico. 
We  followed  the  narrow  mule  trail  that 
wound  along  the  brawling  river,  hemmed 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  299 

in  on  either  side  by  mountains  towering 
three,  four,  and  five  thousand  feet  above 
us,  and  were  well  up  the  canon  before  the 
first  rays  of  the  sun  could  reach  us  over 
the  mountain  tops.  All  along  the  trail  the 
river  was  lined  with  beautiful  flowering 
shrubs  of  every  conceivable  shade  and 
color.  Flitting  around  among  them  were 
brilliantly  colored  paroquets  and  many 
other  birds  with  gay  plumage.  That  morn- 
ing's ride  of  ten  or  twelve  miles  up  the 
cafion,  sheltered  as  we  were  from  the 
fierce  rays  of  the  sun — which  emphasized 
and  reflected  the  many-colored  rocks  of 
the  mountains  that  were  carved  and  sculp- 
tured into  all  beautiful  and  fantastic 
shapes — was  one  of  such  rare  beauty  and 
perfection  that  even  the  most  graphic 
pen  would  despair  of  doing  justice  to  the 
subject.     About  noon  we  crossed  a  small 


300  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

branch  of  the   Urique  River,  for  we  had 
turned  off    from  the    main    canon    into 
a  smaller  one,  and  then   started   up   the 
steep    mountain    side.     Up    the    weary 
mules  scrambled  and  climbed  for  six  long 
hours,   resting  now    and    then  while  we 
looked  backward    and  downward  at  the 
land  of  the  tropics,  all  wayside  signs  of 
which  were  fast  disappearing.    Just  before 
leaving  the  Urique  River  we  came  to  a 
native  tannery,  which  was  about  as  prim- 
itive an  affair  as  any  we  saw  in  the  whole 
Sierra  Madres.     For  some  two  hundred 
yards  along  the  wide  river  its  bottom  was 
white  with  outstretched  hides  held  there 
by  heavy  stones  on  the  upstream  corners, 
and    these    hides    were    kept   there    for 
weeks   to    rid    them    of  their    hair.     Of 
course  we  tasted  but  little  of  the  water 
below   that   point.     On    enormous   bent 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  3^3 

beams  at  the  lower  end  was  found  a  num- 
ber of  hides  stretched,  and  naked  men 
scraping  them  with  sharpened  stones. 
Despite  the  style  of  work,  the  leather 
they  make  is  remarkably  soft  and  pliable. 
An  hour  or  two  before  our  evening  camp 
was  made  we  were  once  more  travel- 
ing along  underneath  the  shade  of  the 
great  somber  pines,  and  the  air  seemed 
cold  and  unpleasant  after  our  late  tropical 
experience.  As  we  had  no  tent  with  us, 
we  simply  spread  our  beds  upon  the  soft 
pine  needles  and  slept  with  the  stars 
shining  in  our  faces.  At  the  first  streak 
of  daylight  we  were  eating  our  breakfast, 
and  shortly  after  were  off  over  the  vel- 
vety trail  that  led  up  the  peaks  and  across 
many  small  barrancas  toward  the  deep 
gorge  in  which  was  the  celebrated  Cerro 
Colorado  mine. 


304  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

All  this  portion  of  the  Sierra  Madres 
is  unsurpassed  for  magnificent  and  thrill- 
ing views  over  dizzy  mountain  trails. 
At  many  places  one  could  look  off  into 
infinity  from  a  ledge  not  over  a  foot 
and  a  half  in  width  on  which  the  mules 
must  walk.  Occasionally  a  steep  wall  of 
rock  rises  many  hundreds  of  feet  on  one 
side  and  along  this  the  mule  will  carefully 
scrape.  The  descent  into  Cerro  Colorado 
was  the  most  continuous  steep  I  ever 
saw.  Almost  before  we  knew  it  we  were 
in  the  tropics  again,  and  that  by  an  in- 
cline where,  in  a  dozen  places,  the  uphill 
rider  on  one  zigzag  could,  without  taking 
his  foot  out  of  the  stirrup,  kick  off  the 
hat  of  one  below  him  on  the  other  course 
as  he  passed. 

Cerro  Colorado  is  reputed  to  be  the 
largest  gold  mine   in   the  world,  and  was 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  307 

discovered  as  recently  as  1888.  That  it 
should  have  remained  so  long  unknown  to 
any  prospector  in  such  a  rich  silver-min- 
ing district  is  one  of  the  morsels  of  min- 
ing history,  even  a  far  greater  mystery  to 
me  than  that  the  existence  of  living  cave 
and  cliff  dwellers  on  the  rough  moun- 
tain trails  leading  thereto  should  have 
been  kept  so  long  quiet.  Cliff  dwellers 
or  angels  in  the  air  above  them,  or  cave 
dwellers  or  demons  in  the  earth  under 
them  would  have  attracted  but  little 
attention  from  a  seeker  of  precious  met- 
als beyond  the  momentary  astonishment 
at  their  sight. 

The  Cerro  Colorado  mine  is  an  im- 
mense buttress  or  spur  from  the  flank  of 
the  Sierra  Madres,  the  whole  spur  show- 
ing signs  of  gold,  not  in  any  distinct 
vein,  but  in  great  masses  distributed  here 


3o8  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

and  there  through  the  mountain,  a  sort 
of  "  pocket "  system,  as  miners  would 
say.  This  great  buttress  or  spur  is 
1800  meters  (something  over  a  mile) 
in  length,  1200  meters  in  breadth,  and 
500  meters  in  height,  and  runs  from 
$1  to  $3300  a  ton,  as  would  be  expected 
in  the  pocket  system  of  deposits. 
Small  deposits  have  been  found  of  one 
hundred  weight  or  so,  however,  that 
would  run  enormously — over  $100,000 
to  the  ton.  The  gold  is  not  wholly 
in  pockets,  for  it  is  found  distrib- 
uted in  all  parts  of  the  great  red  hill,  at 
least  in  the  minimum  of  one  dollar  per 
ton.  It  requires  eight  mines  to  cover 
the  tract  properly.  Enormous  works 
were  being  put  in  to  develop  the  prop- 
erty, and  in  a  few  years  it  will  be 
known     whether     this     is     the     largest 


URIQUE  AND  ITS  MINES.  309 

gold  mine  in  the  world  or  not.  It 
is  the  property  of  the  Becerra  brothers, 
and  when  I  visited  it  Don  Jose  Maria 
Becerra  was  at  the  mine  and  spared 
no  pains  to  make  my  stay  pleasant. 
He  was  then  engaged  in  placing  the 
most  improved  machinery  and  con- 
structing enormous  works  for  water 
power,  etc.  He  brought  out  and  laid 
on  a  chair  four  great  lumps  of  gold, 
of  about  the  value  of  seventy  thou- 
sand dollars,  that  had  just  been  run 
out  by  the  Mexican  arastra,  for  they 
were  still  using  the  ancient  method  of 
mining,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  new 
machinery.  Our  host  was  preparing 
to  start  for  London  and  Paris  on  business 
connected  with  his  mine,  and  when  we 
again  heard  of  him  it  was  the  sad  news 
of  his  death  in   London.     This  was  not 


3IO  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

only  a  severe  loss  to  his  family,  but  a 
great  blow  to  that  portion  of  the  coun- 
try where  his  progressive  energy  had 
done  so  much  to  further  its  develop- 
ment. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SOUTHWESTERN    CHIHUAHUA — DESCRIPTION 
OF  ONE  OF  THE  RICHEST    SILVER    REGIONS 

OF    THE     WORLD MINERAL     WEALTH    OF 

THE     SIERRA      MADRES — THE      BATOPILAS 
DISTRICT. 

A  FTER  leaving  Cerro  Colorado,  with 

•^  ^  its    undeveloped     possibilities,     the 

trail    leads   southwestward    through    the 

broken  barrancas  toward  Batopilas.     This 

portion  of  the  trail  has  been  so  improved 

by  the  energetic  mine  owners,  and  was  so 

broad  and  smooth,  that  our  mules  could 

often  take  up  a  trot,  which  seemed  doubly 

fast  after  our  laborious  plodding  through 

the  rough,  unbroken   portion  over  which 

we  had  passed.     This  trail  had  been  built 
311 


312  CAFE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

along  some  of  the  steepest  cliffs  and  most 
rugged  mountain  sides,  and  must  have 
been  a  work  of  great  expense,  for  after 
every  rainy  season,  lasting  from  June  till 
September,  these  are  badly  washed  out 
and  require  continuous  repairs.  The 
usual  Mexican  method  is  to  abandon  a 
badly  washed  trail  and  strike  out  in  a  new 
direction.  Thus  one  finds  all  sorts  of 
paths  in  the  mountains,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  have  a  good  guide  who  knows  the  way 
thoroughly,  or  bring  up  suddenly  on  the 
washed-out  ledge  of  an  unused  trail  and 
then  retrace  your  steps  to  its  junction 
with  another.  Loner  before  we  reached 
Batopilas  we  came  upon  some  of  the 
massive  work  being  constructed  at  that 
point,  and  were  in  a  measure  prepared  for 
the  energetic  American  activity,  but  not 
for  the  castle-like  structure,  the  hacienda 


SOUTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA.  313 

of  San  Miguel  and  San  Antonio,  as  the 
home  of  ex-Governor  Shepherd,  the 
part  owner  and  superintendent  of  those 
famous  mines  is  called.  Entering  through 
a  massive  stone  archway,  we  passed  by 
some  of  the  principal  offices  within  the 
inclosure,  and  then  on  to  the  residence 
portion  of  the  great  conglomeration  of 
buildings.  Here  our  welcome  was  of  the 
heartiest  description,  and  everything  pos- 
sible was  done  for  our  comfort  and  pleas- 
ure. The  great  buildings  were  lighted 
by  electricity  and  furnished  with  all  mod- 
ern conveniences,  including  hot  and  cold 
water,  steam  baths,  and,  an  unusual  lux- 
ury, an  immense  swimming  pool,  formed 
by  a  slight  deflection  of  a  portion  of 
the  Batopilas  River.  The  many  comforts 
of  this  place  made  us  loath  to  leave  it  for 
the  mountain  trail. 


314  CAVE   AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

I  shall  try  and  give  my  readers  some 
slight  idea  of  the  wealth  of  this  portion 
of  a  country  so  famous  in  early  Spanish 
conquest.  In  those  great,  broken  barran- 
cas, leading  out  to  the  westward  from  the 
heart  of  the  Central  Sierra  Madres,  I 
found  myself  in  the  richest  mineral  dis- 
trict of  America,  and  probably  the  richest 
in  the  world.  The  fact  that  this  is  not 
generally  known  (and,  to  tell  the  truth, 
but  very  little  has  ever  been  published  in 
the  English  language  about  so  rich  a  dis- 
trict, and  that  little  is  very  old)  would 
make  it  easy  to  write  a  book  .on  this 
region  alone,  and  still  leave  a  great  deal 
unsaid.  One  of  the  late  cyclopedias 
says  of  Mexican  mines,  "  Almost  one-half 
of  the  total  yield  [of  silver]  is  derived 
from  the  three  great  mining  districts 
in  Guanajuato,  Zacatecas,  and  Catorce." 


RICH  SILVER  REGIONS,  315 

Like  most  cyclopedias,  this  one  was  a 
little  late  in  its  information  when  printed, 
although  it  had  an  inkling  of  the  truth  in 
saying  :  "  The  State  of  Sinaloa  is  said 
to  be  literally  covered  with  silver  mines. 
Scientific  explorers  who  visited  the 
Sinaloa  mines  in  1872  reported  that  those 
on  the  Pacific  slope  would  be  the  great 
source  of  the  supply  of  silver  for  the  next 
century."  The  fact  is  that  the  center  of 
the  greatest  source  of  supply  has  moved 
even  north  of  Sinaloa,  to  about  the 
boundary  line  between  the  States  of  Chi- 
huahua and  Sonora,  and  about  one-third 
of  the  way  from  its  southern  end.  Tak- 
ing either  Batopilas  or  Urique  as  a  base, 
and  with  a  radius  of  180  or  200  miles, 
that  is,  a  diameter  of  400  miles  on  them 
as  a  center,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
resulting  circle  will    include   the   richest 


3l6  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

mining  district  in  America,  and  probably 
in  the  world,  both  in  a  present  and  pro- 
spective sense.  From  within  that  circle 
comes  a  little  over  one-fourth  the  bullion 
of  the  whole  of  Mexico,  although  this 
area  is  insignificant  compared  with  all  the 
territory  of  that  celebrated  republic. 

In  1864  a  report  of  the  mines  of  Mex- 
ico was  expressly  made  for  Napoleon  III. 
by  Dr.  Roger  Dubois,  the  French  consul. 
He  said  as  follows  of  those  of  Western 
Chihuahua  :  *'  Of  all  the  States  of  the 
Mexican  Republic,  Chihuahua  is,  without 
contradiction,  the  richest  in  minerals,  and 
we  count  no  less  than  three  thousand  dif- 
ferent leads,  the  greater  part  of  which 
are  silver."  Probably  three  or  four  times 
that  number  could  be  added  to  Dr.  Du- 
bois' estimate  of  just  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury ago  to  bring  it  up  to  the  present 


SIERRA   MADRES'   MINERAL    WEALTH.      317 

date,  all  of  the  new  mines  being  in  the 
Sierra  Madres,  where  not  one  in  a  hun- 
dred can  be  worked  unless  of  fabulous 
richness.  One  of  the  new  railways  pro- 
jected into  this  part  of  Mexico  made 
a  most  thorough  examination  of  this 
mining  belt  to  see  what  could  be  de- 
pended on  for  freight,  and  their  chief 
engineer  told  me  that  no  less  than  two 
thousand  mines  of  silver  that  do  not  pay 
now  could  be  made  to  do  so  by  the  cheap 
transportation  of  a  railway.  If  one  will 
reflect  that  there  are  now  in  the  whole 
of  Mexico  but  1247  mines  being  worked 
(gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  tin,  and  cinna- 
bar), it  is  easy  to  see  that  my  statement 
of  this  being  the  richest  mining  district 
of  Mexico,  and  therefore  of  America, 
will  admit  of  no  doubt,  and  especially  in 
a  prospective  sense.     Already,  in    antici- 


3l8  CAFE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS, 

pation  of  a  railway,  many  large  companies 
are  prospecting  their  concessions,  while 
the  individual  miner  is  also  to  be  found 
with  pickax,  pan,  and  shovel  on  his  back, 
making  for  this  El  Dorado,  so  old  in 
many  ways,  and  yet  so  very  new. 

Mr.  H.  H.  Porter,  the  prospecting 
engineer  of  the  Batopilas  Mining  Com- 
pany, told  me,  and  showed  me  the  vari- 
ous specimens  to  verify  his  statement, 
that  in  one  little  area  three  hundred  yards 
square,  there  were  found  twelve  veins  of 
silver  running  from  three  dollars  to  sev- 
enty-eight dollars  to  the  ton.  The  reader 
unacquainted  with  mining  may  under- 
stand this  by  my  saying  that  any  silver 
mine  of  over  twenty  dollars  to  the  ton  is 
a  fortune  to  its  owner  if  on  or  near  a 
railway.  There  are  over  five  hundred 
veins  in  the  Batopilas  concession  of  sixty- 


THE  B  A  TO  PI  LAS  DISTRICT.  319 

four  square  miles,  and  should  any  new 
railway  running  near  by  justify  further 
research,  it  could  probably  be  made  five 
thousand  without  much  trouble. 

The  history  of  the  big  Batopilas  Min- 
ing Company,  about  the  center  of  the 
district  I  have  spoken  of,  and  which 
stands  head  and  shoulders  above  all  the 
surrounding  mining  companies,  is  a  fair 
example  of  all  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try where  my  travels  were  cast. 

Batopilas,  or  Real  de  San  Pedro  de 
Batopilas,  as  it  was  originally  named,  is 
said  to  have  been  discovered  in  October, 
1632.  Like  Urique,  its  discovery  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  *'  adelantados  "  sent  out 
shortly  after  the  conquest  to  explore  the 
country  and  enlarge  the  possessions  of 
Spain.  It  is  surmised  that  the  rich  min- 
eral   finds    made    near   the   capital,    and 


320  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

which  subsequently  extended  far  into  the 
interior,  led  to  the  progress  of  the 
''adelantados"  further  north,  and  inspired 
the  expedition  into  the  Sierra  Madres 
which  gave  rise  to  the  discovery  of  Ba- 
topilas.  Tradition  has  it  that  upon  their 
descent  to  the  river  bottom  the  '' adelan 
tados  "  were  struck  by  the  luminous  ap- 
pearance of  the  rocks,  which  were  cov- 
ered in  many  parts  by  snowy  flakes  of 
native  silver.  Hence  the  name  "  Ne- 
vada," signifying  ''  a  fall  of  snow,"  which 
was  applied  to  the  first  mine  worked  in 
the  district.  The  news  of  the  discovery 
spread  far  and  wide,  and,  as  the  evidence 
of  its  great  richness  multiplied,  it  soon 
became  one  of  the  most  famous  mines  of 
New  Spain.  The  first  miners  of  the  new 
discovery  made  a  magnificent  present  to 
the    viceroy,  composed  entirely  of  large 


THE  B  A  TO  PI  LAS  DISTRICT.  3^1 

pieces  of  native  silver,  the  richness  of  the 
ore  being  unprecedented.  I  have  now 
in  my  possession  ore  from  Batopilas 
that  runs  from  six  thousand  to  eight 
thousand  dollars  to  the  ton,  and  that 
looks  like  a  mass  of  solid  silver  ten- 
penny  nails  imperfectly  fused  together; 
so  I  can  readily  see  how  the  present  of 
solid  native  silver  could  have  been  made. 
In  1790  a  royal  decree  ordered  the  col- 
lection of  all  data  for  a  history  of  New 
Spain,  and  a  special  commission  of  scien- 
tists was  ordered  by  the  viceroy  and 
Royal  Tribunal  of  Mines  to  report  upon 
the  Batopilas  district.  There  is  but  one 
copy  of  the  report  extant,  which  I  traced 
to  the  city  of  Chihuahua.  The  commis- 
sion states  that  the  silver  extracted  from 
Batopilas  in  a  few  years  amounted  to  fifty 
million  dollars,  not  including  that  which 


32  2  CAVE  AND   CUFF  DWELLERS. 

was  surreptitiously  taken  out  to  escape  the 
heavy  imposts  levied  by  the  crown,  and 
which  must  have  been  enormous.  The 
most  famous  period  of  "bonanza"  for 
the  Batopilas  district  was  during  the  last 
fifty  years  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first 
years  of  the  present  century.  During 
this  time  the  famous  mines  of  Pastrana, 
El  Carmen,  Arbitrios,  and  San  Antonio 
were  discovered,  and  yielded  the 
fabulous  returns  which  have  been 
variously  estimated  at  from  sixty 
million  to  eighty  million  dollars.  From 
the  outset  of  the  Mexican  Revolu- 
tion in  1810  a  period  of  decay  set 
in,  which  reduced  Batopilas  greatly  and 
almost  caused  its  ruin.  The  many  revo- 
lutions, together  with  the  wonderful  dis- 
coveries of  very  rich  gold  and  silver 
mining  districts  adjoining  this  one,    de- 


THE  B  A  TO  PI  LAS  DISTRICT.  323 

populated  it  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
counted  but  ten  resident  famihes  in  1845. 
From  this  time  the  reaction  which  has 
made  Batopilas  the  richest  silver  dis- 
trict in  the  world  may  be  said  to  date. 
The  old  mines  were  again  opened  and 
new  ones  discovered.  The  measure  of 
success  did  not  compare  with  that  attained 
in  the  time  of  the  Spaniards,  however, 
owing  to  the  lesser  energy  displayed,  but 
proved  amply  sufficient  to  repay  the 
timid  efforts  of  the  native  speculators. 

Not  until  the  year  1862  did  American 
enterprise  direct  its  efforts  in  so  promis- 
ing a  direction.  A  purchase  was  effected 
by  an  American  company,  composed 
principally  of  gentlemen  interested  in 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.,  whereby  the  prop- 
erty embracing  the  famous  veins  of  San 
Antonio    and    El    Carmen    passed    into 


324  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

their  hands.  They  operated  with  great 
success  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties 
until  the  year  1879,  when  the  property 
again  changed  hands,  and  was  acquired 
by  a  stock  company,  which  has  held 
and  worked  it  to  the  present  day.  The 
American  companies  in  this,  the  richest 
mining  district  in  the  world,  are  :  The 
Batopilas  Mining  Company,  the  Todos 
Santos  Silver  Mining  Company,  and  the 
Santo  Domingo  Silver  Mining  Company. 
The  Mexican  mining  companies  are  quite 
numerous,  as  may  be  supposed,  but  I 
shall  not  detail  them,  as  it  would  require 
too  much  space.  Many  of  them  are  very 
important,  as  the  Urique  and  Cerro  Col- 
orado companies.  Altogether  there  are 
over  a  hundred  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree of  active  operation  in  this  rich  dis- 
trict, all  contained  within  a  radius  of  four 


THE  BATOPILAS  DISTRICT.  325 

miles.  Of  these  the  Batopilas  Mining 
Company  owns  and  operates  over  sixty. 
It  is  without  doubt  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant American  mining  ventures  in 
Mexico.  It  is  also  a  mining  company  that 
has  had  great  difficulties  to  contend  with. 
Its  isolation  in  the  establishment  of  a 
business  of  such  magnitude  in  the  heart 
of  the  Sierra  Madres  in  so  short  a  number 
of  years  is  an  accomplishment  suggestive 
of  great  energy.  This  company  owns 
nearly  all  the  famous  old  mines  in  this  dis- 
trict which,  in  the  times  of  the  Spaniards, 
yielded  those  fabulous  bonanzas  that 
caused  the  astonishment  of  the  world. 
It  has  had  to  repair  the  follies  which, 
from  a  scientific  standpoint,  were  com- 
mitted by  several  generations  of  in- 
expert and  short-sighted  Mexican 
mine    owners.       It    has    had    to     clear 


326  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

the  old  rnines  of  immense  masses  of 
rock  and  dirt  which  had  accumulated 
during  many  decades  of  abandonment, 
"gutting  and  scalping,"  as  the  miners 
say.  Recently  over  one  hundred  miles 
of  openings  have  been  made.  The 
most  important  is  the  great  Porfirio 
Diaz  tunnel,  to  be  3>^  miles  in 
length  when  completed — one  of  the  long- 
est and  most  important  mining  tunnels  in 
the  world,  cutting  over  sixty  well-known 
veins  at  the  river's  level.  No  one  can 
look  at  the  great  mills,  the  aque- 
duct of  enormous  masonry  (eight  or 
nine  miles  long,  and  that  will 
take  up  all  the  water  of  the  Batopi* 
las  river),  or  the  town  of  Batopilas  (a  most 
active  place  of  six  thousand  people) 
without  respecting  the  energy  that  has 
accomplished   all   this.     The   history   of 


THE  BATOPILAS  DISTRICT.  3^7 

Batopilas  is  only  the  history  of  many 
other  mining  districts  throughout  this 
country,  and  the  fortunes  taken  from 
these  mines,  and  those  still  behind  in 
them,  seem  unreal  and  bordering  on 
romance. 

There  is  one  mine  near  the  city  of 
Chihuahua,  the  Santa  Eulalia,  which  in 
days  gone  by  built  the  fine  cathedral  at 
that  place  at  a  cost  of  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  This  was  done  by 
simply  paying  a  tax  of  about  twenty- 
five  cents  on  every  pound  of  silver 
mined,  which  was  ample  atonement  for 
any  or  all  sins  that  the  owners  could 
commit. 

From  Batopilas,  north  or  south,  the 
mighty  range  of  mountains  lowers  in 
height,  while  the  big  barrancas  do  not 
cut   so   deep  into  their  flanks  anywhere 


328  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

else  as  here,  giving  the  finest  Alpine 
scenery  to  be  found  in  this  part  of  the 
continent. 

Some  of  the  outside  facts  regarding  the 
mines  are  really  more  interesting  than 
the  mines  themselves.  The  miners  work 
in  the  hot  interiors  bare  to  the  skin,  ex- 
cept their  sandals  and  a  breechcloth. 
Even  these  have  to  be  examined  when 
they  emerge  from  the  mine  after  the 
work  is  over.  The  sandals  are  taken  off 
and  beaten  together,  while  the  breech- 
cloth is  treated  in  the  same  manner  if  the 
examiner  demands  it.  Of  course  the 
miners  are  usually  known  to  the  examiner, 
and  his  searches  vary  with  the  supposed 
honesty  of  the  different  workmen.  In  a 
mine  where  pure  silver  has  been  known 
to  be  cut  out  with  cold  chisels  by  the 
mule  load,  and  sent  direct  to  the  retorts 


THE  B A  TO  PI  LAS  DISTRICT.  329 

for  smelting,  the  temptation  was  very 
great  to  purloin  a  little  with  each  depar- 
ture from  the  mine ;  and  accounts  of  the 
sly  efforts  of  some  of  the  thieves  appear 
more  like  the  yarns  in  detective  stories 
than  cold  facts.  Ventilating  tubes,  small 
as  gas  pipe  and  covered  with  wire  gauze, 
have  been  used  to  transfer  the  metal  from 
the  interior  to  the  exterior  of  the  mine 
for  quite  long  distances.  Imitation  kits 
of  tools  have  been  made  of  drills,  ham- 
mers, etc.,  all  of  which  were  hollow  and 
used  for  stuffing  in  stray  bits  of  solid 
silver.  Even  candles  and  candle  holders 
were  made  hollow  and  thus  used  for 
stealing.  I  could  give  a  dozen  other 
most  singular  means  employed  by  these 
miners  in  their  pilferings. 

The   tunneling   of  the   old    Spaniards 
was  very  slow  compared  with  that  now 


33©  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

done  by  machinery.  In  some  places 
there  were  evidences  that  they  had 
heated  the  stones  by  fire  and  had 
then  thrown  water  thereon,  shivering 
the  front  by  sudden  chilling,  a  method 
yet  employed  in  Honduras  and  Guate- 
mala, according  to  an  engineer  at  Bato- 
pilas  who  had  recently  arrived  from  those 
countries. 

One  .  of  the  most  singular  things 
connected  with  prospecting  in  this  par- 
ticular portion  of  the  mountains  is  the 
means  by  which  large  deposits  of  silver 
near  a  tunnel  can  be  located.  If  an 
iridescent,  smoke-like  appearance  spreads 
over  the  rocks  at  any  point  of  a  new 
tunnel  or  drift  at  the  end  of  a  week  or 
two,  the  engineers  always  drift  for  it  and 
generally  strike  silver.  This  stain  is 
called   by   them    *'  silver   smoke,"  and  is 


THE  BATOPILAS  DISTRICT.  33 1 

said  to  be  unknown  in  any  other  mines. 
I  was  given  a  half  dozen  theories  in  re- 
gard to  it,  mostly  of  a  chemical  character, 
but  the  mere  fact  that  such  a  strange  con- 
dition exists  to  help  man  pry  into  nature's 
secrets  is  more  interesting  than  any  ex- 
planation. 

From  the  garden  of  the  hacienda, 
surrounded  by  banana  and  orange  groves 
and  all  kinds  of  tropical  plants  and 
flowers,  one  can  look  up  the  steep  sides 
of  the  mountains,  which  rise  abruptly  on 
both  sides,  to  the  oaks  and  pines  beyond, 
and,  while  sitting  on  the  veranda  sipping 
ices  or  drinking  cool  and  refreshing 
drinks,  and  vigorously  using  the  fan, 
realize  that  only  a  mile  above,  on  the 
cumbra  or  crest  of  the  steep  mountain, 
the  ice  water  flows  freely  in  the  little 
mountain     streams     and     the     heaviest 


332  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

flannels      only      would      be      comforta- 
ble. 

My  stay  at  Batopilas  was  somewhat 
prolonged  in  waiting  for  a  party  that  was 
soon  to  descend  with  bullion  to  Chihua- 
hua. I  had  originally  intended  to  continue 
my  course  toward  the  Pacific,  but  the  hot 
weather,  more  severe  in  May  and  June 
than  during  July  and  August,  owing  to  the 
rainy  season  tempering  the  latter,  and  the 
fact  that  I  could  find  a  more  interesting 
trip  through  the  Sierra  Madres  by  another 
trail  than  that  by  which  I  had  entered, 
determined  me  to  turn  my  face  eastward 
and  keep  on  the  high  plateau  with  its 
grand  equable  climate.  In  leaving  Ba- 
topilas the  large  pack  train  carrying  the 
bullion  was  given  two  days'  start,  and  we 
were  to  ride  and  join  them  after  they  had 
made  the  cumbra  or  crest  of  the  moun- 


THE  BATOPILAS  DISTRICT.  333 

tains.  This  trail  took  me  well  to  the 
southward  of  the  one  traversed  on  enter- 
ing the  mountains,  and  gave  me  a  new 
and  interesting  country. 

On  the  high  mountain  crest  between 
Urique  and  Batopilas  I  had  gained  my 
furthest  point  west.  The  Sierra  Madres 
break  more  abruptly  on  their  westward 
slopes,  and  from  the  crest  we  could  make 
out  the  great  plains  of  Sinaloa  and  Sonora 
stretching  far  away  toward  the  Gulf  of 
California.  The  country  to  the  west  in 
Sonora  and  Northern  Sinaloa  is  one  of  the 
most  fertile  in  Mexico.  The  valleys  of 
the  Fuerte,  the  Mayo,  and  the  Yaqui  are 
as  rich  as  any  river  valleys  in  North 
America,  and  perfectly  susceptible  of 
sustaining  a  dense  population,  or  will  be 
when  all  the  Indian  troubles  of  that 
region  are  definitely  settled.     Most  of  the 


334  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

crops  are  of  the  kind,  however,  that  need 
cheap  transportation  to  compete  with  less 
favored  districts  in  the  markets  of  the 
world,  and  are  now  restricted  in  amount 
to  what  is  necessary  for  a  mere  local 
consumption.  Here  wheat  yields  enor- 
mously to  the  acre,  and  the  fields  are 
so  dense  that  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  wade  through  them.  Cotton  grows 
more  luxuriantly  than  anywhere  on 
the  North  American  continent.  Cotton 
is  planted  here  oftentimes  only  once 
in  many  years,  and  large  fields  are  seen 
four,  five,  and  even  seven  years  old, 
yielding  two  and  three  crops  annually. 
In  the  same  field  can  be  seen  plants  in 
blossom,  pods,  and  ripe  cotton  being 
picked.  It  will  be  one  of  the  leading 
cotton  districts  of  the  world  when  a  rail- 
way cuts  through  it  so  that  the  producer 


THE  BATOPILAS  DISTRICT.  335 

can  have  some  show  to  compete  with 
other  districts;  Corn  is  very  prolific, 
coffee  produces  well,  tobacco  is  of  fine 
flavor,  and  oranges,  guavas,  bananas,  and 


INDIAN    WOMAN    GRINDING   CORN. 

plantains  are  plentiful  and  of  rich  flavor  ; 
but  transportation  on  a  pack  mule  for  lOO 
or  200  miles  is^too  uncertain  as  to  condi- 
tion of  delivery,  and  too  certain  as  to  ex- 
orbitant price,  to  encourage  their  culti- 
vation   beyond  local  needs  of  a  limited 


336  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

amount.  The  Fuerte  (in  Spanish  mean- 
ing "strong")  is  a  strong-flowing  river 
with  enough  water — as  its  name  would 
indicate — to  irrigate  both  sides  of  its 
course  for  nine  or  ten  miles  in  width. 
The  Mayo  is  but  little  inferior,  and  the 
Yaqui  is  even  greater. 

The  Pacific  ports  of  this  fertile  belt  are 
Mazatlan,  Guaymas,  and  Topolobampo. 
At  the  latter  point  an  American  colony 
was  founded  some  years  ago,  of  which 
the  reading  public  heard  considerable, 
not  very  favorable  to  that  country  as 
a  colonization  district,  and  with  a  great 
deal  of  aspersion  thrown  at  the  colonizers. 
There  was  so  much  crimination  and  re- 
crimination by  the  two  sides  that  I  do 
not  believe  anybody  ever  obtained  a  clear 
idea  of  how  matters  stood  there.  The 
fact  is  about  this  :     A  colony  was  put  in 


THE   B  A  TOPI  LAS  DISTRICT.  337 

a  part  of  an  extremely  rich  country  with 
the  ultimate  expectation  that  a  railway 
would  be  completed  from  that  point  to 
the  Rio  Grande  and  to  Eastern  connec- 


A   CIVILIZED   TARAHUMARI   COOKING. 

tions.  Had  the  railway  been  finished, 
every  colonist  with  enough  gray  matter 
in  his  brain  to  know  his  way  home  would 
have  made  a  competence  at  least,  and 
probably  a  fortune.  This  is  just  as  sure 
as   that   fortunes    have    elsewhere  been 


33^  CAVE   AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

made  through  the  development  by  rail- 
ways of  new,  rich  countries.  But  with  its 
failure  there  was  no  halfway  ground  to 
stand  on,  so  that  in  this  instance  there 
arose  such  an  amount  of  misty  accusa- 
tion and  rejoinder  that  many  people  in 
an  indefinite  way  laid  all  the  blame  on 
the  country ;  a  most  erroneous  conclusion. 
When  a  railway  is  completed  through 
this  country  there  will  be  the  usual 
amount  of  money  made  that  such  circum- 
stances justify,  but  only  by  those  who 
have  selected  the  right  time  for  it. 

As  I  have  already  said,  the  main  por- 
tion of  the  large  pack  train  was  started 
ahead  to  give  it  an  opportunity  to  rest 
a  little  before  attempting  to  climb  the 
steep  mountain  trail,  and,  after  reaching 
the  cumbra,  or  crest,  another  breath- 
ing spell  before  starting   on   their   long 


THE  B A  TOP  I  LAS  DISTRICT.  339 

journey.  It  was  now  nearing  the  rainy 
season,  and  even  if  we  made  haste  we 
would  only  just  escape  this  unpleasant 
and  rather  dangerous  time  in  the  high 
sierras,  for  there  the  floods  pour  down 
and  often  carry  out  large  portions  of  the 
trail  on  the  steep  and  narrow  mountain 
passes.  Our  pack  train  consisted,  all 
told,  of  about  seventy  or  eighty  mules, 
twenty  to  thirty  of  them  loaded  with 
silver  bricks  for  Chihuahua,  the  rest  of 
the  train  being  the  pack  and  riding 
mules  of  the  various  drivers  and  attend- 
ants of  the  "  conductor,"  as  the  principal 
personage  in  charge  of  the  bullion  is 
called. 

This  person  was  an  immense  quadroon, 
a  person  of  unusual  executive  ability  in 
that  position,  and  thoroughly  trusted  by 
the   superintendent,    ex-Governor    Alex< 


340  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ander  Shepherd.  He  had  under  him  a 
half  dozen  able  assistants,  all  Mexicans, 
and  was  accompanied  by  three  or  four 
"  valiantes,"  as  they  are  called,  men  of 
renowned  prowess,  who  have  at  least 
*'  killed  their  man,"  and  who  could  be 
relied  on  to  protect  the  train  in  case  of 
attack  by  robbers.  As  this  large  caval- 
cade moved  off  up  the  narrow  barranca 
or  cafion  it  presented  a  motley  and  pic- 
turesque appearance  from  its  gayly 
dressed  and  heavily  armed  attendants, 
well  mounted  on  their  sturdy  mules,  to 
the  Indian  drivers,  with  only  a  blanket 
apiece  for  covering  and  a  stout  stick  to 
help  them  over  the  ground.  Even  the 
most  civilized  of  these  Indians  think 
nothing  of  such  a  walk,  two  or  three 
hundred  miles,  resting  every  night  as 
they  do  when   in  attendance  on  a  large 


A  goatherd's  cache  in  the  mountains. 


THE  B  A  TOP  I  LAS  DISTRICT.  343 

pack  train  and  sharing  in  the  good  food 
supplied  them  by  the  owner.  Indeed  it 
is  really  a  treat  to  them.  Among  the 
Indian  drivers  were  two  or  three  who 
had  never  seen  a  railway,  nor  had  they 
ever  visited  a  city  as  large  as  Chihuahua, 
and  they  were  looking  forward  with 
feverish  anxiety  to  this  great  event  of 
their  lives.  They  had  heard  of  the  won- 
derful Mexican  Central  Railway  and  the 
great  trains  of  cars  that  moved  so  fast, 
but  their  minds  seemed  filled  with  unbe- 
lief until  they  could  really  take  it  in  for 
themselves.  The  semi-civilized  or  civi- 
lized Tarahumari  Indians  are  the  best 
natured  people  imaginable,  and  there  is 
nothing  they. are  not  willing  or  anxious 
to  do  for  you  if  in  your  employ.  They 
possess  the  same  docile  obedience  and 
fondness    that    a   dog  exhibits    for    his 


344  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

master,  and  are  constantly  anticipat- 
ing little  wants  and  looking  for  little 
favors  they  can  do  you,  and  this  too 
without  expecting  any  reward  what- 
ever. 


CHAPTER   X. 

SOUTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA — THE   RETURN 

BY      ANOTHER      TRAIL THE      CANON      OF 

THE      CHURCHES  —  AMONG      THE       CLIFF 
DWELLERS. 

AFTER  bidding  adieu  to  our  hospita- 
ble host  and  the  many  friends  at 
the  great  hacienda,  we  started  quite  late 
in  the  afternoon  to  ride  about  eight  or 
nine  miles  up  the  Batopilas  River  to  a 
station  of  the  Batopilas  Mining  Com- 
pany called  the  Potrero.  On  either  side 
the  Batopilas  lifts  its  banks  from  four  to 
five  and  even  to  six  thousand  feet  above 
the  river  bed,  making  a  wonderfully  beau- 
tiful panorama  of  rugged  mountain  scen- 
ery as  you  wind  along,  sometimes  climb- 

345 


346  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ing  up  a  few  hundred  feet  and  then 
descending  to  the  water's  edge  to  cross 
at  some  favorable  ford.  For  the  cafion 
through  its  entire  length  is  very  narrow, 
and  in  some  places  there  is  only  room 
for  the  rushing  river  with  the  trail  hug- 
ging the  banks  or  finding  a  foothold  for 
the  mules  on  the  steep,  broken  mountain 
side.  I  hardly  know  which  looks  the 
more  impressive,  to  stand  upon  the  crest 
of  a  high  canon  or  to  wind  through  its 
depths  and  look  up  at  its  beetling  sides, 
which  seem  to  cleave  the  clouds.  What- 
ever be  the  point  of  view,  from  top  or 
bottom,  with  the  usual  discontent  of  hu- 
man beings  in  all  things,  the  observer  will 
always  wish  he  were  at  the  other  place, 
from  which,  as  he  imagines,  something 
better  could  be  seen. 

At  the  Potrero   I   found  a  good,  sub- 


SOUTHWESTERN  CHIHUAHUA.  347 

stantial  log  house,  built  and  maintained 
by  the  Batopilas  Company,  and  used 
by  them  as  a  shelter  for  members  of 
their  pack  trains,  instead  of  depend- 
ing on  the  sky  for  a  covering.  One 
end  of  the  house  was  divided  off,  where 
grain  was  stored  for  all  the  animals. 
There  was  also  a  storeroom  for  provi- 
sions of  various  kinds,  thus  saving 
much  packing  over  the  rough  mountain 
trail. 

These  houses,  I  learned,  had  been 
built  about  every  thirty-five  miles  along 
the  trail,  and  at  each  a  trusty  Indian  lived 
to  care  for  them.  They  were  a  great 
comfort,  and  seemed  even  luxurious  after 
a  hard  all-day  ride  on  the  rough  trail. 
At  each  was  a  large  corral  or  pen,  into 
which  the  mules  were  turned  for  their 
feed,  and  this  too  was  a  saving  of  labor 


348  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

and  time  to  the  packers,  and  allowed  one 
to  make  a  much  earlier  start,  as  well  as  to 
omit  the  long  noon  camp  of  the  Mexicans. 
In  each  of  the  houses  was  an  immense 
fireplace,  which,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
party,  was  piled  with  pitch-pine,  and  a 
most  welcome  blaze  and  warmth  soon 
thawed  out  the  coldest. 

At  the  Potrero  a  church,  built  by  the 
first  Jesuits  in  this  country,  still  remains, 
and  is  used  for  devotion  by  the  Indians, 
although  roofless  and  over  two  hundred 
years  old.  Standing  near  the  ruined 
door,  and  looking  in,  one  sees  an  altar 
surmounted  by  a  cross  and  a  scaffolding 
of  flowers.  Above  this  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  pictures  ever  seen  in  such  a 
peculiar  framing.  The  roofless  old 
church  reveals  the  most  magnificent 
castellated  cliffs   to   be   seen    along   the 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      349 

Batopilas  River  for  many  miles.  Taking 
the  tops  of  the  battlements,  which  rise 
thousands  of  feet  in  sheer  altitude  in 
many  places,  so  that  they  will  fall  just 
below  the  top  of  the  church  door,  thus 
leaving  a  little  streak  of  blue  sky  between, 
and  viewing  the  scene  as  framed  by  the 
rest  of  the  church,  the  observer  has  a 
picture  before  him  that  would  make  the 
reputation  of  any  artist  who  could  trans- 
fer it  to  canvas  with  reasonable  ability. 
Near  by  was  the  primitive  belfry,  two 
sticks  set  in  the  ground,  and  the  bell,  an 
old  bronze  one,  hung  from  a  cross-piece 
between  them.  Once  each  year  a  priest 
visited  this  place,  upon  which  occasion  a 
great  festival  was  held.  Indian  runners 
were  sent  out  into  the  mountains  for 
many  miles  around,  to  induce  the  timid 
Tarahumaris  to  come  in.     Here  all  the 


35°  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

civilized  and  semi-civilized  brought  their 
children  to  be  christened,  and  they  again 
induced  many  of  the  v^ilder  Indians  of 
the  cliffs  and  caves  to  join  them.  In  this 
v^ay  the  priests  reach  the  wilder  ones,  and 
sometimes  conversions  are  made  among 
them.  This  is  their  only  method  of 
approaching  the  uncivilized  natives, 
through  the  medium  of  those  not  quite  so 
wild,  who  allow  them  to  visit  their  homes 
in  the  cliffs  and  crags  and  hold  a  limited 
intercourse.  From  the  steep  cliffs  above 
the  resort,  the  wild  Tarahumaris  can  look 
down  on  the  strange  doings  of  their  more 
civilized  brothers  in  the  little  valley  be- 
low. This  they  told  us  was  often  done, 
but  the  instances  were  quite  rare  in  which 
the  very  wild  ones  had  been  coaxed  down 
from  the  crags  above. 

I  have  been  asked  what  chance  a  mis- 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      351 

sionary  would  have  among  these  people 
and  how  he  could  best  reach  them. 
Where  the  patient  priest  or  Jesuit  fails  to 
penetrate  with  all  the  assistance  he  can 
derive  from  those  of  his  own  faith  who 
are  kinsmen  of  the  people  to  be  ap- 
proached, it  would  seem  indeed  a  difficult 
task  for  those  of  other  beliefs. 

I  was  told  that  these  people,  the  semi- 
civilized  Tarahumaris,  are  particularly 
fond  of  colored  prints,  and  any  brightly 
colored  picture  is  to  them  an  object  of 
veneration.  Often  old  copies  of  Puck 
or  Judge  drift  down  here,  passing  from 
the  hands  of  miners  to  Mexicans  and 
thence  to  the  Indians.  These  they  pre- 
serve and  worship  as  saints,  and  to  them 
they  offer  up  their  simple  prayers. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  were  to 
climb  to  the  top  of  the   steep    cliffs  be- 


352  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

hind  the  old  church  at  the  Potrero  ;  that 
night  we  slept  for  the  last  time  in  the 
land  of  the  tropics.  Late  in  the  evening 
I  walked  over  by  the  home  of  a  Tara- 
humari  Indian,  He  had  a  bright  fire 
burning  in  front  of  his  hut,  and  on  the 
ground  his  family  were  all  sleeping  peace- 
fully, even  down  to  a  very  young  baby. 
The  house  appeared  to  be  deserted,  being 
used  probably  only  during  the  rainy 
season. 

Next  morning  by  four  o'clock  we  began 
the  ascent  of  the  steep  mountain.  It  was 
before  daylight  when  we  left  the  canon, 
and  by  the  time  we  had  climbed  for  three 
hours  I  noticed  one  of  the  most  singular 
cliff  or  cave  dwellings  I  had  so  far  seen. 
There  was  a  distinct  trail  leading  to  it. 
This  trail  could  be  perceived  from  the 
very   bottom    of   a    deep    cafion    which 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      355 

branched  off  from  the  Batopilas,  led 
along  dizzy  cliffs,  holding  to  the  sides  of 
the  steep  mountain  until  it  reached  a 
height  fully  equal  to  our  own,  and  finally 
disappeared  in  an  enormous  cave.  This 
must  have  been  capable  of  containing 
hundreds  of  people,  as  it  was  over  a  mile 
distant,  and  at  that  distance  we  could 
perfectly  discern  its  mouth  and  even  its 
interior  walls.  It  was  the  dizziest  climb 
to  a  home  I  have  ever  read  of  or 
seen. 

That  afternoon  I  came  to  the  farms  of 
some  civilized  Tarahumaris,  built  on  the 
very  steep  mountain  side,  on  which  the 
dirt  was  held  back  by  terraces  or  rude  re- 
taining walls,  so  very  similar  to  those  seen 
around  the  ruins  of  Northwestern  Chi- 
huahua, supposed  to  be  Toltec  or  Aztec, 
that  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  there 


356  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

was  some  closer  connection  between  them 
than  that  of  mere  resemblance. 

I  had  heard  a  dozen  theories  to  ac- 
count for  these  terraces  in  the  North, 
as  for  collecting  water  in  dry  seasons,  for 
conducting  water,  as  places  for  defense, 
etc.,  etc.,  but,  with  an  actual  case  directly 
under  observation,  this  seems  to  be  a 
better  explanation  :  In  decades  and 
centuries  of  rainy  seasons  of  more  or  less 
violence,  after  the  people  had  abandoned 
these  northern  houses,  or  had  been  killed 
by  their  enemies,  all  the  retained  loose 
earth  would  have  been  swept  away,  leav- 
ing only  rude  and  dilapidated  walls  or 
terraces  sweeping  around  the  mountain 
sides,  from  which  almost  anything  could 
be  inferred,  whether  the  most  peaceful 
form  or  the  most  warlike  fortification. 

Although   our  journey  began  at  four 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      357 

o'clock  in  the  morning  it  was  two  or  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  before  we  reached 
the  welcome  shelter  of  the  next  station, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  from  beginning  to 
end  one  uninterrupted  climb.  This  sta- 
tion on  the  Teboreachic  was  an  exception 
to  the  rest  on  the  trail  regarding  distance, 
for  it  is  only  eighteen  miles  from  the  Po- 
trero,  although  eighteen  miles  of  incessant 
uphill  work.  While  the  trail  is  by  no 
means  as  steep  or  dangerous  as  that  lead- 
ing into  the  Urique  barranca,  it  is  fully  as 
long  a  climb  to  reach  the  top  or  cumbra, 
and  one  does  not  welcome  a  retreat  to 
the  somber  pines  with  half  the  enthusi- 
asm inspired  by  a  descent  into  the  tropical 
foliage  of  the  deep  barrancas.  I  have 
already  described  so  many  ascents  and 
descents,  that  carried  us  from  one  kind  of 
climate  to  another,  that  I  hardly  think  it 


35^  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

necessary  to  repeat  It  in  this  instance. 
One  feature  of  the  ascent,  however,  ex- 
ceptionally pleasant,  was  the  ease  with 
which  one  could  get  off  one's  tired  mule 
and  not  only  earn  its  gratitude,  if  a  mule 
maybe  said  to  possess  that  virtue,  but 
also  stretch  one's  weary  limbs  by  climb- 
ing over  a  comparatively  good  trail 

As  soon  as  we  were  well  up  in  the 
mountains  we  found  the  region  extremely 
well  watered,  beautiful  streams  flowing 
through  every  little  glen  or  valley,  many 
of  them  filled  with  small  trout.  This  Ba- 
topilas  trail  differed  from  the  other  in  that 
some  attempt  at  grade  had  been  made. 
It  did  not  adopt  the  erratic  Indian  method 
of  making  for  the  top  of  every  tall  peak 
and  then  climbing  down  on  the  other 
side,  only  to  repeat  the  performance  until 
the  rider  became  almost  seasick  from  the 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      359 

undulations.  Since  Batopilas  came  into 
the  hands  of  Americans  there  has  been 
a  constant  effort  on  their  part  to  look 
for  better  grades  and  secure  a  simpler 
method  of  ingress  and  egress  from  their 
mountain  mines,  and  they  are  continually 
broadening  and  improving  the  path. 
Still,  at  the  best,  they  can  never  make 
anything  but  a  narrow  mountain  trail  in 
that  country  of  crag  and  canon.  The 
day  will  come  when  railways  are  built 
through  that  rich  region,  but  until  then 
the  patient  mule  will  be  the  only  means 
of  transportation. 

The  first  night  on  the  Teboreachic 
was  a  most  delightfully  cool  one  after 
the  long  spell  of  warm  weather  we  had 
experienced  on  the  lower  levels.  It  was 
preceded  by  a  slight  thunder  shower,  the 
first  one  of  the  season,  but  it  warned  us  in 


360  CA  VE  AND   CLIFF  D  WELLERS. 

unmistakable  terms  that  the  rainy  season 
was  not  far  off,  and  that  we  had  better 
get  out  of  the  mountains  before  it  was 
upon  us.  Before  making  La  Laja,  the 
second  night,  we  passed  the  homes  of 
many  Indians,  both  of  the  semi-civilized 
type  and  the  wilder  ones  of  the  cliffs  and 
caves.  At  one  point  I  stopped  to  get  a 
photograph  of  the  homes  of  some  cliff 
dwellers,  where,  directly  below  the  cliffs, 
were  a  couple  of  rude  stone  huts,  built  on 
a  steep  side  of  the  mountain.  The  men 
seemed  to  be  absent  from  this  place,  but 
we  could  see  the  forms  of  some  women 
moving  about  and  crouching  down  to 
avoid  being  seen  by  us.  My  Mexican 
man,  Dionisio,  was  greatly  alarmed  at 
my  action  in  dropping  behind  the  party 
to  photograph  this  group  of  strange 
homes,  and  loudly  declared  we  would  all 


THE  RETURN  BY  ANOTHER    TRAIL.      3^3 

be  shot  by  the  men,  should  they  return 
and  see  us  at  this,  to  them,  strange  work. 
It  was  almost  impossible  to  induce 
Dionisio  to  bring  up  my  camera  or 
hold  my  mule,  so  anxious  was  he  to  get 
away.  There  was  really  no  danger  what- 
ever from  these  people,  as  they  only  fight 
to  defend  their  homes,  but  the  fear  of  the 
cowardly  Mexican  was  very  amusing. 

Before  leaving  Batopilas  we  had  been 
told  that  whatever  we  had  seen  of  the 
wonderful  or  beautiful  in  nature  on  our 
outward  journey  by  other  trails,  a  treat  of 
a  most  magnificent  character  was  reserved 
for  us  on  this  route,  one  that  was  unique 
and  wholly  without  parallel  in  those  grand 
old  mountains.  This  was  the  day's 
journey  through  the  Arroyo  de  las  Igle- 
sias.  So  we  were  in  a  measure  prepared 
for  the  many  beautiful  sights  that  awaited 


364  CAVE  AND    CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

US  on  our  third  day.  Although  we  had 
been  passing  through  picturesque  valleys 
and  were  constantly  crossing  lovely 
mountain  brooks,  one  must  admit  without 
hesitation  that  of  the  many  hundreds  of 
beautiful  streams  in  the  Sierra  Madre 
Mountains,  flanked  by  cut  and  carved 
stone,  there  is  none  that  will  compare  in 
extent  or  beauty  with  the  sculptured  rock 
of  the  Arroyo  de  las  Iglesias  (the  Canon 
of  the  Churches),  so  named  on  account  of 
the  spires  of  rock  that  greet  one  on  every 
side  for  the  greater  part  of  a  day's  travel. 
For  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  the  Cafton 
of  the  Churches  seems  more  like  some 
theatrical  representation  of  a  fairy  scene 
than  a  real  one  from  nature.  The  lime- 
stone has  been  eroded  into  a  thousand 
fantastic  forms  by  the  action  of  the 
elements,    the  predominating  one  being 


THE   CAJ^ON  OF  CHURCHES.  365 

some  feature  of  a  church  or  cathedral, 
either  in  spires,  minarets,  or  flying  but- 
tresses built  far  out  from  the  main  walls 
of  the  canon.  The  most  grotesque  forms 
are  those  that  generally  cap  the  spires ; 
it  seems  necessary  that  some  hard  rock 
above  should  protect  the  softer  under- 
neath in  order  to  insure  one  of  these 
petrified  pinnacles  of  nature. 

One  of  them,  two  hundred  feet  in 
height,  as  seen  from  the  cafton,  was  as 
good  a  spread  eagle  as  a  person  would 
want  to  see  cut  out  of  stone,  while  on 
a  tower  not  a  hundred  yards  away  was  a 
bust  of  Hadrian,  quite  as  good  as  that 
in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  ten 
times  as  large,  and  a  thousandfold  more 
conspicuously  placed.  A  person  with  a 
small  amount  of  imagination  could  easily 
make  a  land  of  enchantment  out  of  this 


366  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

arroyo  with  its  singular  columns  and  pil- 
lars, its  leaning  towers  and  busts  and 
statues,  that  meet  him  on  every  side  and 
are  repeated  every  few  hundred  yards  by 
great  canons  that  break  off  to  the  right 
and  left,  and  which  are  perfect  duplicates 
of  the  original  through  which  the  trav- 
eler wends  his  way. 

Strange,  singular,  and  curious  as  are 
these  works  of  nature,  they  are  not  so 
astonishing  to  the  average  civilized  per- 
son as  the  works  of  man.  Among  these 
beetling  crags  and  dizzy  cliffs  savage 
men  have  found  places  to  erect  their 
houses  and  live  their  lives.  Ladders  of 
notched  sticks  lead  from  one  crag  to  the 
crest  of  another,  whenever  the  rude  steps 
made  by  nature  do  not  allow  these  crea- 
tures of  the  cliffs  to  climb  their  almost 
perpendicular  faces  ;  a  false  step  on  the 


HOMES  OF  CLIFF  DWELLERS  IN   ARROYO   DE  LAS   IGLESIAS. 


THE   CA^N  OF  CHURCHES.  3^9 

slight  ladders  or  a  turning  of  one  of 
them,  which  to  me  seemed  so  likely, 
would  send  the  climber  two  hundred  to 
three  hundred  feet  to  the  bottom  of  the 
cafion,  perhaps  a  mangled  corpse. 

Had  I  wanted  to  visit  them  directly  in 
their  homes  I  doubt  very  much  if  I  could 
have  reached  them,  for  I  am  sorry  to 
say  I  am  not  a  sailor,  a  tight-rope  per- 
former, or  an  aeronaut.  Beyond  this 
place  the  people  had  fled  to  their  houses, 
and  could,  by  disarranging  a  single 
notched  stick,  have  made  our  ascent  im- 
possible. This,  I  think,  was  one  of  the 
methods  of  defense  adopted  by  ancient 
cliff  dwellers  of  Arizona,  as  shown  at 
least  by  some  which  I  have  seen  and 
which  now,  with  the  logs  rotted  away, 
are  unapproachable.  It  is  even  possible, 
as  I  have  more  than  hinted  before,  that 


370  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

there  is  some  closer  affinity  between  the 
Arizona  and  Mexican  cliff  dwellers  than 
this  simple  but  suggestive  one  I  have 
mentioned.  It  is  certainly  a  question  I 
would  like  to  see  some  good  archaeologist 
struggle  with  for  a  year  or  two. 

So  steep  are  the  walls  of  the  Arroyo 
de  las  Iglesias  in  many  places  where  we 
observed  cliff  dwellers  that,  had  they 
thrown  an  object  from  the  little  porthole- 
like window  of  their  stone  pens  with 
ordinary  strength,  it  would  certainly  have 
brought  up  in  the  canon  bottom  probably 
two  hundred  or  three  hundred  feet  below. 
How  they  can  rear  little  children  on 
these  cliffs  without  a  loss  of  one  hundred 
per  cent,  annually  is  to  me  one  of  the 
most  mysterious  things  connected  with 
these  strange  people. 

They   are  worshipers  of   the   sun,    so 


IN  ARROYO   DE  LAS  IGLESIAS,   CLIFF   DWELLINGS  IN  ROCKS. 


THE   CAftON  OF  CHURCHES.  373 

good  authorities  say,  and  on  the  first  day 
of  a  child's  life  they  dedicate  it  to  that 
great  orb  by  placing  it  in  his  direct  rays. 
In  many  other  ways  they  show  their  de- 
votion to  that  source  which  has  been 
loved  by  so  many  primitive  people. 
Their  whole  range  of  worship  would 
certainly  be  interesting  in  the  extreme. 
They  have  the  greatest  dread  of  the  owl, 
which,  as  is  known  elsewhere  as  well  as 
here,  has  some  association  or  other  of 
evil  connected  with  it,  from  the  slightest 
disaster  to  death.  How  many  other 
things  they  fear  no  one  knows,  but  they 
certainly  are  not  afraid  to  climb  cliffs  and 
crags  that  would  frighten  the  average 
white  man  half  to  death  to  even  con- 
template. 

That  all  their  children  are  not  killed  ofl 
every  month  by   falling  from  the  eleva- 


374  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

tions  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  we  saw  a 
few  of  them  playing  in  a  little  *^  clearin-g  " 
in  the  brush  at  the  bottom  of  the  canon. 
But  we  did  not  see  them  very  long,  for 
as  soon  as  they  got  sight  of  the  leading 
member  of  our  party  they  fled  to  the 
brush  and  caves,  and  a  pointer  dog  could 
not  have  flushed  one  five  minutes  later. 
I  have  already  described  some  of  their 
strange  methods  of.  hunting  game.  In 
fishing  they  build  dams  in  the  mountain 
streams  and  poison  the  fish  that  collect 
therein  with  a  deadly  plant  the  Mexicans 
call  palmilla,  securing  everything,  finger- 
lings  and  all.  They  never  tattoo,  paint, 
or  wear  masks  as  far  as  I  could  ascertain. 
They  are  a  strange,  wild  set  of  savages 
in  a  strange,  picturesque  country,  a  coun- 
try that  will  repay  visiting  in  the  future 
should  the  means  of  transportation — rail- 


<c^-i   — 


A   CLIFF   DWELLING. 


THE   CA^ON-  OF  CHURCHES.  377 

ways  or  better  stage  facilities — ever  be 
sufficiently  improved. 

After  leaving  the  wonderful  Valley  of 
the  Churches  it  requires  a  night's  rest 
before  one  is  ready  to  give  much  admi- 
ration or  attention  to  the  magnificent 
scenery  on  every  hand.  It  seems  as  if 
you  had  had  a  surfeit  of  the  beautiful.  I 
obtained  a  number  of  interesting  sketches 
and  photographs  of  these  homes  in  the 
clouds.  The  photographs  were  taken 
under  great  drawbacks,  as  the  days  were 
stormy  and  cloudy,  and  even  the  lowest 
of  the  cliff  dwellings  were  difficult  of 
approach. 

Just  as  we  were  descending  a  high 
mountain  into  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Tatawichic,  we  passed  by  an  enormous 
rock  on  the  steep  trail  of  the  mountain 
side  that  must  have  been  fully  three  hun- 


378  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

dred  feet  high  and  not  over  thirty  feet  in 
diameter,  which  did  not  vary  a  foot  from 
its  base  to  its  top,  where  it  was  rounded 
off  like  a  half  globe.  It  was  green  in 
color,  looked  exactly  like  a  pitahaya 
cactus  turned  into  stone,  and  seemed  won- 
derfully unstable  as  seen  from  the  trail 
that  wound  around  its  base  on  the  steep 
descent.  The  name  of  the  station  at  this 
point  was  Pilarcitas  (Little  Pillars),  from 
the  many  curious  and  fantastic  rock  for- 
mations which  assumed  the  shape  of  pil- 
lars, either  singly  or  in  groups  of  two, 
three,  or  more.  The  previous  night  had 
been  very  cold  in  the  mountains,  and  the 
constant  showers  only  increased  the  chill ; 
so  we  found  the  little  station  houses  the 
most  welcome  places  of  refuge  as  night 
came  on. 

The  last  station   on   this  trail  is  about 


STONE   PILLAR   ABOUT   THREE    HUNDRED   FEET   HIGH, 
RESEMBLING   CACTUS. 


AMONG    THE   CLIFF  DWELLERS.  3^1 

four  or  five  miles  from  Carichic,  and  is  in 
the  center  of  a  productive  and  well-watered 
valley.  The  little  cultivation  done  there 
by  the  Indians  shows  a  wonderful  fertility 
of  soil ;  in  truth  there  are  but  few  of  the 
staple  products  that  could  not  be  grown 
in  that  portion  of  the  country  in  the  great- 
est abundance.  At  this  last  station  of  the 
Batopilas  Company  they  start  their  pri- 
vate stages  directly  for  Chihuahua.  We 
remained  over  for  a  day,  awaiting  the 
departure  of  the  regular  diligence  from 
Carichic. 

While  here  I  talked  with  an  intelligent 
American,  who  had  lived  for  many  years 
in  this  country,  about  the  Tarahumaris. 
He  told  me  he  had  that  season  attended 
one  of  their  foot  races,  a  favorite  pastime 
of  these  people.  At  this  particular  con- 
test one  of  *the  fleetest  and  most  endur- 


382  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

ing  foot  runners  in  all  the  great  band  of 
the  Tarahumarls  (or  tribe  of  ''  foot 
runners,"  as  we  know  they  are  called) 
was  a  contestant.  That  summer  he  had 
made  one  hundred  Spanish  miles — about 
ninety  of  ours — in  eleven  hours  and 
twenty  minutes,  in  a  great  foot  contest 
near  the  Bacochic  River,  resting  but  once 
for  half  an  hour  in  this  terribly  long  race. 
The  man,  Mr.  Thomas  Ewing  by  name, 
told  me  that  he  attempted  to  run  this 
foot  runner  a  vuelta,  (which  is  six  miles 
straight  away  and  return,  or  twelve  miles 
altogether),  Ewing  using  a  horse  ;  and 
although  the  white  man  tried  this  three 
times  with  three  different  horses,  the 
Tarahumari  cave  dweller  beat  him  each 
time.  These  contests  of  the  Tarahumaris 
are  almost  always  very  long  and  excit- 
ing.     They  make  their  bets  with  stock 


AMONG    THE   CLIFF  DWELLERS.  3^3 

of  some  kind,  sheep,  cattle,  or  goats,  and 
large  numbers  of  these  change  hands  on 
the  outcome  of  the  races.  In  a  letter  to 
me  regarding  these  races,  Mr.  Ewing 
writes  of  one  of  the  runners  : 

*'  I  was  with  him  " — the  Indian — *'  when 
he  was  running  his  fifth  round.  It  was 
about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  he 
was  running  at  about  eight  miles  an  hour. 
At  that  time  his  competitor  was  about 
six  miles  behind  him.  I  rode  beside  him 
for  about  four  miles,  when  my  horse  had 
enough  of  it.  There  were  a  hundred 
Indians  or  more  to  see  the  race,  and  they 
had  stations  about  every  two  miles  on  the 
trail,  where  they  stopped  the  runners, 
rubbed  them  down,  and  gave  th^m. pznola^ 
a  parched  corn,  ground  fine  and  mixed 
with  water.  The  runners  stopped  one 
minute,  or  about  that,  at  each  station  for 


384  CAVE  AND   CLIFF  DWELLERS. 

rest.  The  Indian  who  won  this  race,  al- 
though tired,  finished  in  good  shape,  and 
took  in  about  fifty  dollars  in  stock." 
These  contests  in  running  are  said  to 
be  one  of  the  amusements  of  even  the 
wildest  of  the  Tarahumaris,  although 
I  doubt  whether  many  white  men  have 
witnessed  them.  Even  as  early  as  the 
days  when  Grijalva,  the  discoverer  of 
Mexico,  and  Cortes,  its  conquerer, 
landed  on  its  shores  where  now  is  the 
important  port  of  Vera  Cruz,  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  their  appear- 
ance an  Aztec  artist  had  made  perfect 
representations  of  the  fleet,  the  kind 
and  amount  of  armament,  and  correct 
pictures  of  the  artillery  and  horses 
(although  he  had  never  seen  such  things 
before),  and  had  transmitted  them  nearly 
two  hundred  miles  by  carrier  to  the  City 


AMONG    THE   CLIFF  DWELLERS.  3^5 

of  Mexico,  placing  them  in  the  hands  of 
the  Aztec  Emperor  Montezuma.  Cortes 
afterward  found  that  the  Aztec,  Tlascalan, 
and  other  armies  of  that  portion  of  the 
country  always  moved  at  a  run  when  on 
the  march,  thus  trebling  and  quadrupling 
the  military  marches  of  the  present  day. 
This  was  the  first  intimation  to  Europe- 
ans of  the  endurance  and  swift-footedness 
of  the  natives  of  the  great  Mexican 
plateau,  and  a  similar  characteristic  was 
found  to  be  almost  universal  among  the 
Indians  of  the  plateau.  But  it  was  after- 
ward discovered  that  the  people  most 
prominent  in  this  respect  was  one  in  the 
far  north  of  New  Spain,  hidden  away  in 
the  fastnesses  of  the  Sierra  Madres, 
whose  very  name,  as  given  by  other 
tribes,  Tarahumari,  meaning  foot  run- 
ners, indicated  their  special  excellence. 

THE   END. 


6     8*^ 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 

University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(510)642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

JAN  0  6  1994 

Return. 

DECl  3  1993 

Santa  Cruz  Jitr 

' 

JAN  0  2  2003 

BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


